BOSTON OFFICER KILLS FLEEING DRUG SUSPECT

Clinging to the front of a speeding car containing three fleeing drug
suspects, a plainclothes Boston police officer shot and killed the car's
driver on a downtown street at lunchtime yesterday, police said.

The driver, whom police did not identify, allegedly sped directly at the
officer, who had stopped the men during an undercover drug operation on
Friend Street, half a block from the FleetCenter, police spokeswoman
Mariellen Burns said.

The black four-door Nissan came to a stop after it ran into a backhoe,
inches from an open work pit where two construction workers were doing
water main repairs, witnesses and police said. The car had been weaving
down the narrow street, apparently in an attempt to shake the officer,
witnesses said.

"The leg of the backhoe stopped the car that was being chased," said one of
the men working for BC Construction Co., who did not give his name.
"Otherwise, I don't know. They could've had their heads taken off."

The crack of gunfire shattered the midday hum of the crowded commercial area.

"We were just saying, 'They must be shooting a movie,"' said Patty King,
who happened upon the scene while taking her 2-year-old granddaughter for a
stroll.

The two other men in the car were taken into custody on drug charges. One
who tried to run was tackled by officers and construction workers,
witnesses said. Burns said illegal drugs were recovered at the scene.

The officer who fired the shots and his partner, who were not named, were
in good condition after being treated at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Witnesses said the officer fired four or five shots at the driver through
the car's open sunroof before the officer's partner and other officers arrived.

Burns said she could only confirm that the driver was shot while still
behind the wheel, and while the officer was sprawled across the hood and
windshield. She said investigators would work to determine how the shots
were fired and how many.

"All we know right now is that the officer was holding onto the sunroof,
and he managed to take his weapon out and fire his weapon," Burns said.

While it appeared that the suspects were unarmed at the time of the
incident, police were also seeking a search warrant to enter the car, Burns
said.

After the shooting, the officer aimed his gun at one of the two remaining
suspects, who witnesses saw with hands up, in the Nissan's passenger seat.

The third suspect apparently tried to run off before being arrested,
witnesses said.

Frank Blackmore, one of the construction workers, said he was returning
from lunch when he heard four or five shots, then saw police and about a
half-dozen construction workers tackle the suspect.

The bloodied driver, who rolled beneath the passenger-side door of the
officers' unmarked Crown Victoria, was tended to by emergency medical
technicians with CPR and oxygen, witnesses said.