By John R. Ellement
Boston Globe
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — A little girl wants the four-leaf clover she put into a glass frame placed alongside Officer Phillip Hurton’s hospital bed. Unions, police departments, and leaders of neighboring Ashland have donated cash and time.
Two days after Hurton was shot in the face by an alleged armed robber, the Framingham police officer and the department he has served for about five years are being overwhelmed by acts of kindness from strangers and friends.
“We are just so humbled by the empathy and good will of people,” said the department’s spokesman, Lieutenant Paul Shastany, who became emotional when talking about Hurton and the community’s response to the severe wounds he sustained. “It just makes it so much easier to do our jobs.”
Hurton transferred to the Framingham department in 2005 after first being hired by the Wayland police. He had served four years in the Marine Corps and was honorably discharged in 1999.
In a handwritten letter submitted to Framingham when he applied for the job, Hurton said he was confident his time in the Marine Corps would help make him an effective police officer.
Hurton also vowed to preserve his personal integrity as he protected Framingham residents. ``I am an honest person, and I will not sacrifice my integrity for personal gain or to avoid the consequences of my actions,’' he wrote.
Shastany said Hurton is a training officer, one of the patrol officers selected to train rookie officers.
“He’s the guy you want coming to your door when you have a problem, in my opinion,” said Shastany, who has worked as Hurton’s supervisor.
Shastany visited Hurton yesterday at Massachusetts General Hospital, where the officer remains in a drug-induced coma. Shastany said Hurton is expected to survive but faces months of recovery, which would probably include additional surgery. Hurton was shot through both hands, and a bullet is lodged in his neck. His jaw was shattered.
Hurton, 32, is married and has no children.
Sahr W. Josiah, 22, who is accused of shooting Hurton, was arrested Tuesday, moments after the shooting on Beaver Street in Framingham.
Yesterday, two more suspects were arrested, charged in Hurton’s shooting. They were identified by police as Kenneth T. Lacy, 20, of Fottler Road in Mattapan and Emanuel Aguilar, 18, of Lincoln Street in Marlborough.
According to police, Lacy was the second of two armed men who robbed a cabdriver of $50 and his cellphone on Alexander Street at around 10:30 p.m.
Shastany said Lacy had a pellet gun that he pointed at the cab driver during the robbery.
Aguilar is charged with being an accessory before a robbery. He is accused of calling the taxi company, luring the driver to Alexander Street.
All three men are being held pending a dangerousness hearing this morning in Framingham District Court, according to a spokesman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr.
The Framingham Police Association has opened a fund-raising account for Hurton and his wife. Donations can be sent to the Hurton Family Fund c/o Framingham Police Department and Detective David DelPrete, 1 William Welch Way, Framingham, MA, 01702.
Copyright 2009 Boston Globe