Duty Death: Tamar Bucci
End of Service: 03/03/2022
By Will Katcher
masslive.com
STONEHAM, Mass. — Tamar Bucci, a 34-year-old Massachusetts State Police trooper, was killed in a Thursday night crash with a tanker truck on Interstate 93, officials said.
After seeing a disabled car by the side of the highway in Stoneham, Bucci was pulling over to assist the driver around 11:45 p.m. when she was struck by the truck, according to State Police Col. Christopher Mason.
A pair of Good Samaritans passing by pulled Bucci from the car and a Stoneham police officer arriving to the scene attempted to perform CPR, he said. Bucci was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
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“The department is devastated by her loss,” Mason said. “We are eternally grateful to the attempts of everyone involved to assist Trooper Bucci and to save her life.”
Bucci was a graduate of Andover High School and Middlesex Community College. She graduated from the state police academy in 2020 in an outdoor ceremony at Gillette Stadium. According to Mason, she is survived by her mother, father, two sisters, a stepbrother, and a stepsister. He recalled her as a well-liked colleague who had previously worked as a personal trainer, and said friends would remember her passion for fitness and sweet tooth.
Bucci was the 22nd state trooper killed in the line of duty. On social media, condolences poured in from public officials, state representatives, and local police and fire departments across Massachusetts offering their support to Bucci’s family and her colleagues in the state police.
“Our thoughts are with her family as we process this tragic and senseless loss of life,” said Patrick McNamara, vice president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts. “Trooper Bucci is not just a coworker to us. She is our sister and we are heartbroken by this devastating loss to our membership.”
Bucci had the blue lights on her cruiser activated when the vehicle was hit. The force of the impact pushed the cruiser off the roadway, Mason said.
The driver of the tanker truck, which was carrying 10,000 gallons of fuel and belonged to PJ Murphy Transportation, was uninjured. Mason said the man, from Methuen, was cooperating with the police investigation Friday morning. The driver who Bucci was attempting to assist before the crash also suffered minor injuries, but was still hospitalized as of 6 a.m. Friday.
Bucci had previously been assigned to the Brookfield state police barracks. State Sen. Anne M. Gobi, whose district includes Brookfield, offered her condolences to the family of the trooper. “Godspeed Trooper Bucci to you and your state police family,” she said.
Photos of the crash captured by Boston 25 showed the cab of the tanker truck pushing the cruiser up against a rock wall on the side of the highway, and a line of state police cruisers parked along the highway responding to the crash.
At least two lanes of I-93 were closed as police investigated and cleaned up the crash. By 9:30 a.m., all lanes were clear, the state police said.
The investigation is ongoing and is being conducted by the state police.
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