State Trooper from Reading Assisted in Watertown Friday

State Trooper Tom Murphy assisted other law enforcement officials last Friday in Watertown from 3 a.m. until the second bombing suspect was captured.

Murphy grew up in Reading and was a Reading Police Officer from 1998 to 2006 before he transitioned to the State Police.

He was called into Watertown last Friday morning at 3 a.m.

“It was a chaotic scene,” he said.

Multiple agencies responded, he told Patch, and it was a coordinated effort.

“We worked very well with each other with a common goal: to capture suspect number two,” he said.

He noticed Reading Police Officer Edson on the scene, and said it was nice to see him there. They once worked together in Reading. Edson was a senior officer at the time and took Murphy “under his wing.”

“It was nice to be with him on scene in Watertown working together again,” Murphy said.

He was stationed with the media for most of the day Friday. It was the largest media presence he’d ever seen, he told Patch. He was in Watertown from 3 a.m. until the suspect was captured, and admitted that it was a long day for everyone involved, but they were not going to give up.

“We had to catch him,” he said.

Once the last press conference of the day was over, or what he thought was the last conference of the day, Murphy’s shift was about to come to a close. Then, he heard on the radio that a citizen had reported finding blood on his property and perhaps the second suspect.

Murphy reported to the citizen’s home immediately, he said. He then received orders, along with other officers, to stand back. Police suspected that the second suspect had explosives on him, so a special team was called in to sweep the area and Murphy along with other officers created a new perimeter.

“I can say that all the officers on scene put in a full effort,” Murphy told Patch.

There were several different agencies involved, but no one gave up, he said. He was happy to see the suspect in custody, but in the back of his mind he was thinking of the funerals that were on the horizon for the three victims and the MIT officer who was killed. He was also concerned for the transit officer in the hospital fighting for his life.

“It’s been difficult for everybody, law enforcement, victims and residents of the commonwealth and the country,” he said.