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Suffolk DA clears off-duty officer in fatal Copley Square restaurant shooting
An off-duty Boston officer will not face criminal charges for fatally shooting Lemark Jaramillo inside a Chick-fil-A in March 2025, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said. Hayden said Jaramillo was pursuing a teenager with a knife when the officer fired three times.
An off-duty Boston police officer acted lawfully when he fatally shot a knife-wielding man inside a Copley Square Chick-fil-A in March 2025, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Wednesday, Oct. 21. Hayden said criminal charges against the officer are not warranted.
The shooting happened March 1, 2025, at the restaurant on Boylston Street. According to the district attorney’s investigation, 32-year-old Lemark Jaramillo chased a 17-year-old boy inside after a fight moments earlier at a nearby Chipotle and tried to stab him.
Hayden said witnesses told investigators that Jaramillo did not obey off-duty Officer Jose Valenzuela’s commands to drop the knife. The district attorney said Jaramillo was about to stab the teenager when Valenzuela fired three shots.
In announcing his decision, Hayden said the shooting was necessary to prevent Jaramillo from killing or seriously injuring the teenager or someone else. His office released its investigative report, body-camera footage and witness interviews.
Surveillance video from a nearby liquor store showed customers rushing out of the restaurant onto Boylston Street during the incident. Witnesses described a rapid and frightening scene; one passerby told local television that people fled after hearing someone shout that shots had been fired.