DA: Jury selection underway for trooper accused of 2018 shooting of ATV rider in Boston

BOSTON — A Massachusetts State Police Trooper accused of shooting an ATV rider on a busy Boston highway in 2018 is set to go on trial.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden says jury selection is underway in the trial of 56-year-old Matthew Sheehan.

Sheehan is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after allegedly shooting an ATV rider on I-93 in Boston on February 24, 2018.

On that day, Sheehan was among a group of troopers attempting to corral a large group of motorbikes, dirt bikes, and mopeds allegedly driving erratically on I-93 South. After blocking both ends of the ramp, officials say the riders attempted to flee from police.

Sheehan reportedly left his cruiser trying to apprehend a rider. He then returned to the cruiser and retrieved his Smith and Wesson M&P Patrol Rifle, loaded it, and shot twice at an ATV rider driving southbound on the exit ramp, striking the rider’s foot and his left front tire, according to the DA’s office.

The State Police suspended Sheehan in early 2018 following an internal affairs investigation into inappropriate social media postings.

According to court records, many of Sheehan’s posts on a site called Mass. Cops were “racially tinged, disparaging of women, promote or condone violence or excessive force, suggest ‘getting creative’ when finding ways to stop citizens and a lack of respect for people and human life.”

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