BOSTON, May 7, 2018—Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley today released his entire investigative file on the 2016 gunfight in East Boston that left two Boston Police officers critically injured and the man who shot them fatally injured.

Conley determined that Boston Police Officers Matthew Morris and Eric Schmidt acted in lawful self-defense, defense of each other, and defense of Officer Richard Cintolo when they discharged their weapons at KIRK PATRICK FIGUEROA, 33, on the night of Oct. 12, 2016. Under a voluntary policy of transparency in such investigations, Conley released the evidence on which his decision was based – more than 500 pages of interview transcripts, almost 800 pages of written reports and forensic testing results, over 1800 photographs, and more than three hours of dispatch recordings – to the news media. A detailed report of the investigation is posted online.

The independent investigation, led by Conley’s top homicide prosecutor, revealed that Mr. Figueroa donned an armored vest and used an HS Produkt XD(M) 9mm handgun to shoot Officers Cintolo and Morris when they and other officers responded to his roommate’s 911 call. Officer Cintolo was struck beneath his chin, in his left arm, and in his right chest, shattering bones and causing nerve damage. Officer Morris was struck in the upper left leg, severing his femoral artery. Forensic testing showed that all of their injuries were sustained from a distance of less than nine inches.

The evidence showed that Officer Cintolo was incapacitated by his injuries, and that Officers Morris and Schmidt returned fire as Mr. Figueroa retreated to a darkened bedroom, where he armed himself with a Kel-Tec tactical 12-guage shotgun and fired again. When Officer Morris was incapacitated by blood loss, Officer Schmidt continued to fire, holding Mr. Figueroa at bay and covering the rescue effort that extricated his gravely wounded colleagues – both of whom were completely exposed in a direct line of fire from Mr. Figueroa’s bedroom. The investigation revealed that 18 rounds struck Mr. Figueroa in the torso but did not penetrate his body armor; he was also his in the head, chest, and side.

“Under the circumstances, the use of deadly force was a lawful and reasonable exercise of self-defense and defense of others,” Conley said. “Accordingly, I have determined that criminal charges are not warranted.”

The investigation revealed that Mr. Figueroa purchased the 9mm used to shoot the officers, the shotgun he used to continue the assault, and a second 9mm recovered from his room legally in Arizona and Florida, but but no license or permit for them in Massachusetts. Given a 2010 arson conviction in Georgia, prosecutors said, he likely would not have been able to purchase or possess them legally in Massachusetts.

“Congress is currently considering federal legislation that would extend a license to carry in lax gun law states like Florida to safer states like ours,” Conley said. “Any federal lawmaker who thinks that’s a good idea should look very closely at this case and talk to the officers involved. The last thing police officers need, the last thing Boston or any community needs, is more high-powered weapons like these in the wrong hands. But for the heroic efforts of officers at the scene, Boston EMTs, and the staff of Mass General, they could very well have claimed these three officers’ lives that night.”

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.