One Year Later, Greenland Remembers

Editor's note: This is the first installment in a five-day series reflecting on the one-year anniversary of the Greenland police shootings.

It was a typical Thursday and life was moving at the usual pace in Greenland, a small New Hampshire town of 3,500 residents where students were being bused home from Greenland Central School.

But all of that changed in a hurry when a drug raid turned into a shoot-out, claiming the life of Greenland Police Chief Michael Maloney and wounding four other police officers. The shooter, Cullen Mutrie, also killed himself and his girlfriend, Brittany Tibbetts, following an hours-long standoff with police.

Across the Seacoast, residents say April 12, which will mark the one-year anniversary of the Greenland Police shootings, is very much on their minds, as evidenced by some of the passing cars that display "260" bumper stickers honoring Maloney's police call sign that was retired in Rockingham County.

It is a day some residents say they just want to forget, even though they know that will probably never be the case. What they want to remember is Maloney, a man who made the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of the four police officers wounded during the drug raid at 517 Post Road.

At Suds N Soda, a Greenland convenience store, employee Jay MacKenzie said he remembers Maloney very well. He said Maloney was "a real chief" who was "old school" and would come into the store every day for coffee or to buy a sandwich at the deli.

"For his wife, I wish this would all end," MacKenzie said.

Tom Harrington of Hampton was delivering Coca-Cola to the store last week, and said he grew up with Maloney. He said the one-year anniversary reminds him of the constant void he feels in his heart.

"It's an empty feeling, still," he said. "It definitely left a void in a lot of people's lives in the community."

Greenland Town Administrator Karen Anderson said she was getting a massage in town on the day of the Greenland shootings and Maloney's wife, Peg, was working at the Portsmouth Country Club. From the moment town officials and police learned about what had happened a short distance away, Anderson recalled it was just pure chaos.

Within a few hours, the town hall parking lot was filled with television news trucks as she and other town officials scrambled to work with police and implement their emergency plans.

Anderson recalled how she had to swear in Greenland Police Chief Tara Laurent in her office a full month before she was scheduled to become Greenland's new police chief. The shades were drawn so that the media would not witness it.

Anderson said she still feels grateful to WMUR news anchor Tom Griffin, a Greenland resident, for not reporting that Maloney had been killed until the news was formally released by the New Hampshire Attorney General's office. Several Boston television news stations reported that news first, which was very difficult, she recalled.

In the days following the shootings, Anderson recalled how she and other town officials worked hard to organize candlelight vigils in front of the Town Hall as well as make preparations for Maloney's wake and provide crisis counseling at the Greenland Central School for residents struggling to cope with the magnitude of the shootings.

As the one-year anniversary drew closer in March, Anderson said many people were unsure what the town should do to mark the date. She came up with an idea to create special Thin Blue Line ribbons that people could wear on April 12. The town also decided to hold a moment of silence in front of the Greenland Police Station at 5 p.m. before the Greenland Central School holds a community talent show at 6 p.m. A portion of the proceeds from that show will help Greenland Police officers travel to Washington, D.C., in May to see Maloney's name added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial.

Greenland Central School Principal Peter Smith said the community talent show is the only event that school officials planned to hold to mark the one-year anniversary. He recalled being grateful that the school's 370 students were already home with their parents when the shootings took place in the evening.

He said the shootings happened on a Thursday and school was closed Friday so that it could be used as a command post by State Police and later as a crisis counseling center. He and his staff remain focused on shielding the students from the trauma of the anniversary as much as possible.

"It was a very sad, tragic day. For the sake of the kids, who were too young to understand everything that was going on, we want to make sure they are just able to go to school and enjoy their experience," Smith said.

For the past few weeks, Anderson and several volunteers have made more than 2,000 of the ribbons that are available for free at Town Hall to remember Maloney.

"The family finds it very respectful, too," Anderson said. "It's going to be a visible reminder, but done in a quiet, tasteful way."

Anderson knows that April 12 will still be a very difficult day for many Portsmouth area residents.

"When we hit that day, it's going to be very, very hard because we all know where we were," she said. "I'm sure every other anniversary will be a little less painful, but this first one will definitely be the most painful."

Board of Selectmen Chairman John Penacho knows he will struggle with his emotions when the one-year anniversary arrives. Recently, he received a text message from the town clerk and right above it was the text message he received a year ago when the shootings occurred. Penacho said he never texts on his cell phone, which is why the older text was still on his phone.

"It brings back memories of what happened last year," he said. "It was like it was happening again. It was eerie."

Laurent, the new Greenland police chief, was very reluctant to talk about the day the shootings happened because she said it is still too painful for her and other members of the police department. What she was willing to discuss was how the community has become stronger as a result of the tragedy.

"It has brought us closer together," Laurent said. "People are closer and are looking out for each other more."

One of the things that has been so difficult for Laurent and her fellow police officers is they haven't had a chance to really reflect on the tragedy because Maloney has been the recipient of several awards and the Greenland shootings have been in the media so much over the past year.

"For us, it's been a continuous, day-by-day thing," said Greenland Police Sgt. Dawn Sawyer, who knew Maloney for 10 years. "It's hard for us because we haven't had an opportunity for any quiet reflection for ourselves."

Laurent feels confident the town will reach a point where it will fully heal from the shootings, but she said Chief Maloney will never be forgotten, especially by his department.

She also believes Greenland has shown itself to be a strong community, the same way Newtown, Conn. and Aurora, Colo. are recovering from the tragic shootings they experienced in 2012.

"The monsters who do these things cannot get rid of the resiliency of a community," she said.

At Greenland Town Hall, Anderson is hoping that she and the community feel a sense of relief after the one-year anniversary passes because the entire past year has been very stressful for so many people in town.

"It's been the hardest year I have ever worked," she said. "Maybe at some point I will have the opportunity to grieve for the friend I lost."