Man shot himself in foot while trying to take police officer’s gun near MGH, police commissioner says

Police place scene markers on Cambridge Street near Mass General Hospital after police involved incident.

A man was injured Tuesday during a struggle with a Boston police officer near Massachusetts General Hospital in which he gained control of the officer’s pistol and shot himself in the foot, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said.

The man, whose name was not released, attacked the officer, who working a paid detail near 265 Cambridge St., shortly before 9 a.m., according to Cox and police transmissions recorded by Broadcastify.com.

Cox, who stressed the investigation was in its early stages, said the man approached the uniformed officer and knocked the officer’s hat off.

“He knocked the hat off of the officer, and began to grapple with the officer, and got a hold of his gun, tried to take his gun,” Cox said.

As he tried to take the officer’s gun, he was shot in the foot, an injury that Cox said was not life-threatening.

“He ended up shooting himself” with the firearm, Cox said.

Cox said the man who attacked the police officer appeared to be having a mental health crisis.

He said passersby stepped in to help the officer during the struggle, as did other officers working details near the hospital.

“We are very thankful for the bystanders at any time that they want to, you know, get involved to help us. We appreciate it tremendously, as well as the heroic actions of the other detail officers.” Cox said. ”These are life-threatening situations when you have firearms involved, particularly when they’re in the hands of somebody that doesn’t necessarily know what they’re doing."

Cox said the officer was taken to a hospital for observation, as well as at least one additionalofficer. Neither reported any physical injuries, he said.

A spokesperson for Mass General Brigham said in an email “hospital operations were not affected by this incident,” and referred further questions to the Boston police.

Mayor Michelle Wu said the incident shows the challenges police face daily.

“We want to thank all of our officers for their vigilance, 24 hours a day,” she said during a press conference on the city’s public safety strategy. “As you can see by how we started off today, there’s always something that pops up. The job of our officers, whether they’re officially on duty or they’re working in detail, or they are even sometimes just off duty with their families, is a constant.”

In a statement, the Suffolk district attorney’s office said it would conduct a “thorough investigation” into the shooting.

“We are thankful that the Boston Police officers on scene contained the situation so that it resulted in no injuries to themselves or members of the public and apparent minimal injury to the suspect involved,” prosecutors said.

Dozens of officers responded to the incident, and traffic was disrupted for hours. Officers conducted a line search on both sides of Cambridge Street, and a police dog was also used in the search.

Eddy Rivera, of Cambridge, told WHDH-TV and other reporters that he was one of several passersby that jumped in to help officers and restrain the attacker.

“He was already on the ground, I just jumped on his chest to hold him down, to assist the officers,” Rivera said. “Then, I grabbed his wrist so he wouldn’t be able to flail or grab anything.”

Rivera, who was working at a nearby restaurant, ran to the scene after hearing a gunshot.

“I could see the pandemonium across the street ... the officers put him in cuffs,” Rivera said. “He was just moaning and groaning. He didn’t verbalize anything.”