Police officer shot in Woburn holdup; manhunt continues

By Jaime Lutz and Amanda Cedrone, Globe Correspondents, and Peter Schworm and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

WOBURN -- A veteran police officer was shot multiple times this morning in a gunfight that erupted after a group of suspects attempted a brazen daylight robbery of a jewelry store in the city’s bustling Four Corners commercial area, authorities said. One suspect was wounded and arrested. A manhunt continued late this afternoon for several others, who were described by authorities as armed and dangerous.

Officer Robert DeNapoli, 51, a 16-year veteran of the force, was transported to the Lahey Clinic. He is expected to survive serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

“We are hopeful and confident that he will have a full, complete, and swift recovery,” Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone said in a late afternoon news conference at the scene.

Leone said it was “unclear what the present status is” of the wounded suspect, who was removed by emergency workers from the back yard of a home just a few doors down from the commercial area. But he said that as soon as the suspect had recovered sufficiently, he would be arraigned, either in his hospital bed or in court.

Police are now waging a “comprehensive manhunt” in and around Woburn, Leone said, for as many as three other suspects.

He said there was no particular reason to believe that the suspects were in the immediate area, but authorities were being “most cautious” since it was the area where the suspects were last seen.

A law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to not being authorized to speak about the case, said the would-be robbers had not gotten away with their loot. A shopping bag left behind in the jewelry store parking lot was examined by crime scene investigators.

Boston police alerted their officers on a radio broadcast late this afternoon that three people -- two men and a woman -- who were suspects in the robbery might be heading to the city. One of the suspects was described as having held his side leaving the scene, suggesting he may have been injured in the robbery attempt, the broadcast said.

The incident hapened at about 11 a.m. at a busy strip mall containing numerous businesses at 186 Cambridge Road. By noon the area was full of police cruisers, and some streets were closed as the search continued. Helicopters whirred overhead. Police set up a command post at the busy intersection.

Witnesses who were working in the area described frightening scenes.

Danny Harrington, a business developer for the Lawless Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership across the street from the mall where the jewelry store, P. Musto and Sons Inc., is located, said he was by the front desk talking to someone when he heard a gunshot and looked up.

He said a tall man dressed in black was standing on top of a police cruiser shooting “blatantly” at an officer who was lying on the ground.

“Obviously, we were like, ‘Is this really happening?’” he said. “It was really sick.”

John Stevenson, who works at the Gulf station catercorner from the strip mall, said he heard between seven and 10 gunshots and saw a man dressed all in black run from the shopping plaza across the street, where he was nearly struck by a vehicle.

Within seconds, he said, Woburn police were on the scene. Stevenson said the man ran towards the Lawless dealership with officers in foot pursuit.

“I can’t imagine he got very far,’’ said Stevenson, who said the robbery suspect was not a fast runner.

Elizabeth Hastings, manager of the Great Mandarin restaurant, which is in the same mall as the jewelry store, said she heard the shooting and saw a large man standing by a police cruiser. “And then I saw the police officer on the ground and I started screaming,” she said.

John Cannava, the owner of Metabolic Designs, the business next door to the jewelry store, said, “We’re kind of stuck in here, they don’t want us to leave.”

“There are tons of cops – cars from all different towns, Burlington, Lexington, Woburn. They’re all running around with vests and guns,” he said.

It’s the second time in a year a Woburn officer has been shot. Officer John “Jack” Maguire was fatally shot by a robber during a holdup at a department store in another area of Woburn in late December. He was the first officer shot to death in the history of his department.

The robber, Domenic Cinelli, who was also fatally shot, was a parolee. The incident sparked a makeover of the state parole board.

Police Chief Richard Kelley said at the news conference that he had spoken with DeNapoli at the hospital. After the Maguire shooting, he said, today’s incident was “kind of unbelievable.”

He said the officer was “with his family, and we’re just hoping for the best for Officer DeNapoli.”

Mayor Scott Galvin, who also visited DeNapoli, said he was a “fantastic police officer.”

“We’ve had enough tragedy in this city to last us a lifetime. ... I’m very disturbed by the whole incident to tell you the truth, I’m very upset by it,” Raymond B. Drapeau, a city councilor who represents the Four Corners area, said in a telephone interview.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the family of the officer,” he said.

John M. Guilfoil of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Rick Nohl contributed to this report.