Councilors Seek Assistance for Watertown Residents Who Suffered Damage During Shootouts

After the smoke cleared from the shootout between Watertown Police and the Boston Marathon Bombing suspects, residents of the East End found bullet holes in their home and their vehicles.

Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis, who represents the Eastside of town, said she wants to make sure people get help paying to repair the damage from the gun battle.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and to the folks who were maimed for the rest of their lives. No amount of money can bring back their lives and livelihood,” Kounelis said. “We also have to think of the residents of the East End who sustained property damage. In difficult fin times this is a major hardship when they have (insurance) deductibles for property damage, also had damage to their vehicles.”

Some people may have more than one deductible from various home and auto insurance policies that can run $500, $1,000 even $1,500, she said.

Councilor Cecilia Lenk – who represents the district that includes the Franklin Street where the second suspect was found in the boat – and Town Council President Mark Sideris have also been looking for ways to help residents.

"People are concerned that we get back to normal, and make sure that everything that was damaged be repaired properly," Lenk said.

She went to a meeting for Franklin Street residents hosted by Police Chief Edward Deveau on April 29 - the day that the street reopened. It had been closed for more than a week while investigators looked at the crime scene.

Kounelis, and some of her council colleagues have approached State Rep. Jonathan Hecht, State Sen. Will Brownsberger and Congressman Edward Markey to see if the government can provide any aid to Watertown residents. 

Hecht said he and his staff has been looking at options.

“We are talking to state agencies - MEMA – and looked at some of the other channels that may be out there,” Hecht said. “We haven’t hit on a clean fix to this, but we’re continuing to work on it.”

Kounelis contacted the FBI to see if they might be able to provide help, but was told that because they were not involved in the East End incident they could not assist residents who had property damage.

Lenk encouraged people to contact the FBI, because they may be able to guide people through the process of having damage repaired. The FBI contact is Tina Norton, who can be contacted at 617-223-6120.

At a meeting for residents who were impacted by the shootouts held last week, Kounelis spoke to some people from the East End. Some had already put in their claims, and the deductibles were not their only worry.

“They are concerned that even if the company pays now, what happens when comes time to renew their policy?” Kounelis said. “Will policies be cancelled? Will premiums go up? These are all unknowns.”