Sean Collier, a college police officer allegedly slain by the two brothers suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon, was posthumously appointed to his local police department on Tuesday – realizing his dream of joining the force, officials said.
Collier, 27, was shot multiple times on April 18 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology following an altercation with the suspected attackers as an intensive manhunt for the brothers ramped up.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation naming Collier to the Somerville Police Department, where he had worked as a civilian employee. He also lived in Somerville, a city north of Boston.
“Officer Collier was a true hero and this deserving designation is a small token to honor his memory and his sacrifices,” Patrick said in a statement.
State Sen. Patricia Jehlen, who co-sponsored the bill, said the appointment was a “well-deserved recognition of a brave man who loved his community and humbly strived to live a life of service.”
“There is no debating that Sean Collier is, was and always will be in our hearts, a brave member of the police force,” she continued in the statement.
An email and a phone call seeking comment from a family spokesman, Corey Welford of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, were not immediately returned.
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone thanked lawmakers who “helped make Sean’s dream a reality.”
“It seems fitting that this Home Rule Petition be passed this week, as Sean would have been sworn in just next week,” he said in the statement. “He gave so much of himself and his time to our department these last six years, and I’m honored to bestow this honor upon him.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a firefight with authorities, but his younger brother, Dzhokhar,19, was arrested late April 19 in Watertown, Mass. He faces federal terrorism charges.
Some 275 people were injured and three killed in the April 15 bombings.