Massachusetts Officer Opens Up About Being Shot

Robert DeNapoli knows all too well the trauma that goes with being shot on the job.

"And that's all I thought — I'm going to die in this parking lot, I can't believe this, I didn't even have a chance."

He was the first officer on the scene during the Musto Jewelers heist in Woburn back in 2011.

One of the suspects was in the parking lot when he arrive, and DeNapoli was shot six times as he got out of his cruiser.

DeNapoli's 17-year career on the force would come to an end because of his injuries.

The shooting came less than a year after Woburn Officer John Maguire was shot to death chasing a suspect after a robbery at Kohl's. It was a brutal year for the Woburn Police force.

"Danger, sure, it's part of our job," said DeNapoli. "Getting shot is not part of our job."

So as word came about the tragic shootings in Dallas, DeNapoli knows all too well what the police, the families and that city are going through.

"What's going on out there is just they've lost respect for the law, and now police are a little more edgy," said DeNapoli. "You don't want a police officer to hesitate either because of the stuff that's going on out there."

As he watches the heartache in Dallas, DeNapoli wonders why it's come to this -- a sniper opening fire on law enforcement.

"This climate out there of 'let's take cops out,' I don't get it, I don't understand it," he said.

Even though his injuries kept him from returning to the police force, he's still heavily involved with the law enforcement community, often speaking to police officers and families about the dangers of the job.

DeNapoli is co-founder of the Violently Injured Police Officers Organization.

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