Two Somerville Cops Honored for Boston Marathon Response

Somerville Police Officers Patrick Canty and Katherine Costa were off duty on April 15, enjoying the festive atmosphere of Boylston Street on Marathon Monday.

Canty was with his cousin, Sean Layton, an EMT and former Somerville firefighter, near the finish line. "We go every year," Canty said.

Costa was Abe & Louie's, a Boylston Street restaurant not far from the finish line.

When the first blast went off, "At first, I didn't know what it was," Canty said, speaking at a Board of Aldermen meeting Thursday night.

In a written account of events provided to the Board of Aldermen, Canty said he thought the blast was a celebratory cannon. Then the second blast went off, and there was chaos.

After telling friends and family to get to safety, Canty and his cousin ran into the the blast area. The first body they found belonged to a little boy, "clearly deceased due to his horrific wounds," according to Canty's account. He and his cousin believe the boy was 8-year-old Richard Martin, who died in the attack.

They briefly tried to revive the boy when a uniformed EMT came over. The EMT told them to start stabilizing another victim.

They used their belts as tourniquets then moved onto more victims. Layton, the EMT, "was guiding me with what to do," Canty said. In his account he said Layton was guiding other volunteers, too. 

"We used shoelaces and T-shirts" as tourniquets to help three or four victims, Canty's account says. Then they heard screams coming from a bar. The Boston Fire Department told them to go help.

"We did our best to stabilize the first two [in the bar] … Sean and I carried the victims over our shoulders to the street," the officer's account says. They went back into the bar and helped carry the third victim out on a stretcher. Afterward they helped load more victims into ambulances.

Meanwhile, Costa, who was at Abe & Louie's, had been evacuated onto Newbury Street. On the street she saw a bleeding man lying on the ground, according to her account, which was also provided to the Board of Aldermen. 

She removed the man's sneaker, saw he had a significant injury, and used gauze to stanch his wounds. She tied a tourniquet and waited with him until Boston EMS arrived, her account says.

Costa and Canty received citations of commendation from the Somerville Board of Aldermen Thursday night "for their exemplary actions in the immediate aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing."

Costa, attending the meeting with her 5-year-old son Max, said, "I just appreciate being honored … there were a lot of heroes that day."

She and Canty still seemed somewhat shaken by the experience. "I'd just like to forget that day," Costa said.

"I would hope anyone in our position would do it," Canty said.

However, "I don't know if I'll be back" to the marathon next year, he said.

The Board of Aldermen also gave a citation of commendation to Stephen Cronin, a special education teacher in Somerville, for his actions at the finish line. Cronin was not able to attend Thursday's meeting to receive the citation. Alderman At-Large Jack Connolly said Cronin has volunteered for many years at the finish line tent, usually tending to blisters and sunburns. In the aftermath of the bombings, Cronin spent three hours tending to victims, Connolly said.