Milton SWAT Officer Discusses Bombing Response, Watertown Manhunt

While everyone rushed to  news outlets and social media after two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, Milton Police Officer Mark Cimildoro was dispatched into the city as part of the MetroLEC SWAT team. 

And while the world watched the following Friday, Cimildoro was back in SWAT gear, going house to house in Watertown to flush out Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the second suspect in the attack.

Cimildoro was one of three members of the Milton Police Department, including Sgt. Jack Richman and Patrolman Buddy Colligan, that are part of the MetroLEC SWAT element. MetroLEC, the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council, is a consortium of over 40 local police departments.

Several other MPD officers, like the two K9 units assisted in Boston in the wake of the attack and during the ensuing manhunt.

After the bombing, Cimildoro's group staged at Boston Common. The different SWAT units were deployed to "high value targets" in Boston like hospitals and hotels. Cimildoro's team went to Mass. General Hospital, where many victims were already inside being treated.

"There were a lot of unanswered questions," said Cimildoro of the hours following the attack.

Cimildoro, a 15-year veteran of the MPD and a SWAT officer for the past five years, said the police were there to have a presence and protect the people and infrastructure of Boston. During that initial deployment, Cimildoro and his team served for 16 hours.

"Logistically, it was a monumental task," Cimildoro said of organizing so many officers. After that first day, the law enforcement in Boston worked 12 hours shirts.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were spent working 12 hours on and 12 hours off for Cimildoro. While he was off at 1 a.m. on Friday, April 19, he was called back into duty. The two suspects in the bombing had killed MIT Police Officer Sean Collier and got in a shootout with Watertown Police. As Cimildoro made his way back to Boston Common and then to Watertown, one suspect was dead and another was hunkering down.

"We were teamed up with Boston SWAT and we did a house to house search for the suspect," Cimildoro said.

The SWAT units swept through houses, occasionally falsely feeling there were closing in on Tsarnaev. Cimildoro recalled two or three possible sightings that increased his adrenaline.

After a long day, Cimildoro's team was sent home. He left Watertown at 6:30 p.m.; Tsarnaev was apprehended in a boat a short time later. After a full day of door-to-door searching, Cimildoro heard about the arrest from his wife when he got home.

"As much as we wanted to be part of the apprehension, we're relieved he was caught," Cimildoro said.

Cimildoro said he's proud of what he and his fellow Milton officers were a part of, as well as the regional and even national law enforcement response.

"It was impressive to bring every together the way they did," Cimildoro said.