Local News

Man shot in face by police near Forest Hills identified, arraigned

Officers shot Eyad Abbas during an altercation involving a stolen car, according to the district attorney.

July 23, 2024

1 minute to read

A Roxbury man faced a judge this week over an incident near the Forest Hills MBTA station Thursday, when he was shot by police after allegedly injuring two officers with his vehicle.

At around 8 p.m. on July 18, Boston police responded to a radio call at 66 Hyde Park Ave. that reported a stolen BMW X7 from an Abington auto body shop, according to the Suffolk County district attorney’s office.

Police approached the man, later identified as Eyad Abbas, 23, and after a short conversation, police say Abbas tried to flee the scene by putting the car in reverse, injuring the first officer whose hands were on the vehicle’s door handle and fender.

Abbas drove forward into the second officer, who discharged his service weapon, shooting Abbas in the face and causing him to drive into a parked car, authorities said. The collision left the officer with broken bones and lacerations, including a “large head wound that was bleeding profusely,” according to a statement from the district attorney’s office.

Abbas and the second officer were transported and treated at local hospitals, authorities say. A passenger in the vehicle refused to speak with police and was not arrested.

Abbas, who has a seven-page record of arrests and arraignments dating back to 2019, was charged in West Roxbury BMC with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, receiving a stolen motor vehicle, reckless operation, operating with a suspended license, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury, said District Attorney Kevin Hayden. He was ordered held without bail on Monday pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for July 29.

Hayden said the incident could have “turned out very differently for both the defendant and the officers involved.”

“This is the type of extraordinarily dangerous behavior that can lead to the very worst of outcomes,” Hayden said. “This is yet another reminder of how quickly a police officer’s daily responsibilities can take a dangerous turn.”