Police Credit Training for Good Outcome at Watertown Shootout

Watertown Police officers faced a real life scenario that no other police in the nation have faced, yet came out with an "A+" performance thanks to the hours they spent training.

Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau heaped praise on the officers who responded to the call in East Watertown that turned into a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. He spoke Wednesday night during a community meeting at Watertown High School sponsored by the Watertown Police Foundation.

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during the shootout. His brother, Dzhokar, who is also accused in the bombing case, was later captured hiding in a boat at a Watertown home. 

Authorities have reportedly concluded Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his associate Ibragim Todashev committed the 2011 murders of three men in a Waltham home. State and federal authorities are still investigating the case. Todashev was shot and killed recently when he reportedly attacked a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent with a knife. However, other reports disagree on whether Todashev was armed. The FBI is investigating the shooting. 

SHOOTOUT DETAILS

"What happened on Laurel and Dexter, I don't care what anyone who studies it and looks at it says - whether military or whoever - those guys rate and A+ for what they did," Deveau said.

None of the Watertown Police officers suffered injuries during the firefight with the bombing suspects, which also included bombs being thrown at them. It went smoothly, Deveau said, because of the all the training they received.

"I always tell people I want to have the best police department in the nation," Deveau said. "We got tested that night and I was right."

Sgt. Jeff Pugliese, who sped to the scene of the gun battle in his family minivan and shot it out with Tamerlan Tsarnaev at close range, has served as the department firearms instructor for 27 years. He said that the town has been supportive of their training.

Deveau thanked the Town Hall administration and elected town officials for providing the money needed for officers to complete their training.

While police officers from some departments are limited to 50 or 100 rounds of ammunition when they go to the range, Pugliese said he has never had that problem. As a result, Watertown is known for the length of its firearms training. That time helps train them for such situations like they faced on April 19.

"Some of it is motor skills. You train doing the same thing hundreds and hundreds of times so you can refer back to those motor skills," Pugliese said. "Our department has never skimped. We go out and train the proper way."

See more of Sgt. Jeff Pugliese's comments in the video above.

Deveau said all the officers had to reload during the battle. He said they likely had malfunctions, but it turned out OK because they knew how to handle the situation. 

Some of the officers' actions that night were not textbook, but Deveau said perhaps they should be.

Sgt. John MacLellan approached the chief shortly after the shooting stopped and said he had done something against regulations.

"He told me he had to get out of his car, and they were shooting, and he didn't know how to get out so he put the cruiser in drive so he could get cover and it smashed into another car," Deveau said. "I said, that's OK, and he said. 'You're not mad at me?' I said no, I want to give you a hug!"

That's not in the police training handbook, Deveau said, but said it might be now.