2 people shot, Army veteran killed at Mass. home
7/3/2013STONEHAM, Mass. — An Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and wanted to join the state police was killed early today in a double shooting at a home he was visiting.
Joseph Puopolo, 27, had been visiting a friend’s home in Stoneham, where his family lives, said his father, also named Joseph Puopolo.
The early morning shooting, which left another person hospitalized, “does not appear random,” Middlesex district attorney’s office spokeswoman MaryBeth Long said. No further details about the shooting in Stoneham, a suburb of about 21,000 residents just north of Boston, were released.
Puopolo said his son was “a good kid” who happened to be at the wrong place.
“Anybody that knew my son would tell you the same thing: He was a wonderful kid who would give you the shirt off his back,” Puopolo said.
He said his son had recently taken an exam to qualify for the Massachusetts state police.
“He was looking forward to that, too,” Puopolo said. “I just feel so bad.”
The father and son had been working together in the family’s auto detailing business since the son got out of the Army about eight months ago.
The younger man had been commended for helping a fellow soldier after both were injured by a land mine in Afghanistan, said his godfather, Joseph Allessandro.
Puopolo said he has been overwhelmed by an outpouring of sympathy from those who knew his son.
“I never realized he was loved by so many people,” the father said.