Around 2,000 law enforcement officers showed up to honor fallen Massachusetts State Trooper Tamar Bucci at her funeral service in Revere on March 9.
Bucci, 34, was killed on March 4 after a tanker truck struck her cruiser while she attended to a driver on the breakdown lane of Interstate 93 in Stoneham.
In attendance at the funeral were law enforcement colleagues, family, friends and political leaders, including Governor Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito and Attorney General Maura Healey.
“It was obvious that a stellar career marked by achievement, increasing levels of responsibility and rank awaited her,” State Police Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Mason said of Bucci, who had joined the department in May 2020.
The thousands of officers present saluted as six pallbearers carried Bucci’s casket from a hearse into St. Anthony’s Church.
“It’s not easy to lose a colleague, a friend, it’s been tough for us,” said Patrick McNamara, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts.
Bucci is the 22nd Massachusetts State trooper to die in the line of duty.
“We do this job and put our boots and uniforms on every day to help the public and are ready for anything,” Rhode Island State Police Trooper Amanda King told WBZ 4 Boston.
Following the mass, a riderless horse passed the church with backward-facing boots in the stirrups — a police funeral tradition symbolizing a fallen officer looking back at their colleagues one last time.
A radio transmission saying “Cruiser 1832, Trooper Bucci, rest in peace” was also broadcast to signal the trooper’s end of watch.
Lieutenant Colonel Mason reflected on Bucci’s goodwill and kind nature.
“She was just really a decent, good person. Somebody you would want to have as a co-worker, somebody you would want to represent your agency and somebody you would want to serve the public. She really was a trooper for the times that we are in now. So that is what makes this such a great loss for the Massachusetts State Police, and of course the Bucci family,” he said.
Authorities say the tanker truck driver has not been charged with a crime in connection with Bucci’s death, although both his driver’s license and commercial license have been suspended. The accident is still under investigation.
