The shooting of William Woodworth in Cambridge by two police officers on Aug. 21 was “objectively reasonable,” an inquest led by judge Holly Broadbent said Friday, because “any reasonable police officer in their position would reasonably believe that both the officers and civilians were in imminent danger of being seriously injured or killed.”
Woodworth pointed a gun at an officer and fought the officer during an attempt to disarm him, the inquest found.
Woodworth, 64, of Watertown, was shot by police in a loading dock and parking lot behind businesses at Massachusetts Avenue and Temple Street. Police were drawn there by a 911 call about “suspicious” people on bikes loitering, Middlesex district attorney Marian Ryan and acting Cambridge police commissioner Pauline Wells said. (Officials previously said the report went through the department’s nonemergency line.)
The inquest report released Friday said officers James Nestor and Donald Conrad recognized the bike riders as members of the unhoused community who were often seen around Central Square and who are “known drug users.” While talking with the pair, police realized there was a third person present: Woodworth, in his Jeep.
Police knew Woodworth from two traffic stops that had turned up a gun, crack cocaine and a double-sided machete, according to the inquest. He appeared to Conrad on Aug. 21 to be smoking crack cocaine inside the car.
The inquest carries on the narrative based on interviews and footage from the officers’ body-worn cameras:
“Officer Conrad ordered Woodworth to exit the vehicle and asked him if there was anything inside the vehicle. Woodworth denied having anything in his car, but as he started to exit, he slid his right hand under the driver’s seat and pulled out a firearm. Officer Conrad told Woodworth to ‘leave that there’ and ordered Woodworth to put the gun down three times. Woodworth ignored his commands, turned left as he exited the car, and pointed the firearm at Officer Kerns.”
Conrad shot at Woodworth six times through a lowered passenger side window; Nestor shot once from the driver’s side of the Jeep. They dragged Woodworth from the Jeep and began administering first aid, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. The whole thing “took less than 60 seconds,” the inquest said. An autopsy showed one gunshot wound to the head, one to the shoulder and three to the back.
Family testifies
Family members of Woodworth told investigators that he had been diagnosed with psychosis and bipolar disorder after a traumatic brain injury from in a car accident when he was 18. There had been multiple hospitalizations for mental health issues, and Woodworth “had on occasion been violent when he combined his prescribed medications with alcohol and illegal narcotics.”
“Woodworth on one occasion told his sister that the best way to die would be to point a gun at someone else,” the inquest report said.
The most recent previous officer-involved shooting was Jan. 4, 2023, when an officer killed Sayed Faisal, 20, a Bangladeshi student running around Cambridgeport with a knife during a moment of emotional stress. That incident inspired a call for Cambridge police to get body-worn cameras; this is the first publicly announced used of the footage in determining the outcome of a case involving the city’s police.
“The footage provides important context regarding the dangerous and rapidly evolving circumstances the responding officers encountered that evening and the critical decisions they were required to make within seconds,” said Jennie Lopez, director of communications for the Cambridge Police Department.
The inquest confirmed that the ShotSpotter gunfire-detection system didn’t hear the Aug. 21 incident. This is the first gunfire incident in Cambridge since the system was turned back on for police Aug. 17. It had been off for around a dozen weeks after a City Council vote in May, when a majority of members said there was no evidence the system keeps anyone safe, and a fear that the system could be used for surveillance by the federal government.
Inquest process and police response
The court conducted a preliminary hearing Aug. 27, and an inquest hearing was held Sept. 9. The court heard testimony from two witnesses and 38 exhibits were admitted into evidence. In her report, Broadbent found that: “The court finds that a reasonably prudent person would not find that the actions of officers Nestor and Conrad make them criminally responsible for the fatal shooting of Mr. Woodworth. The court finds their actions were justified.”
The findings were accepted by Ryan, who forwarded the report to the Cambridge Police Department for “whatever internal review and action the department may deem appropriate” and filed a certificate closing the matter in Superior Court.
‘“The Cambridge Police Department is grateful for the professionalism, courage and training demonstrated by the officers involved. Their response under extraordinarily difficult circumstances was instrumental in preventing an already dangerous encounter from resulting in further serious injury or loss of life. We are grateful that the responding officers were not seriously injured and recognize the significant and lasting impact an incident of this nature can have on those involved. The Department remains committed to supporting the officers and ensuring they have the resources they need in the days and months ahead,” Lopez said.
The department also recognizes that “this incident resulted in the loss of a life and has had an impact on many people. We continue to extend our condolences to Mr. Woodworth’s family and loved ones as we acknowledge the findings of the independent review,” Lopez said.
