'She Wanted A Different Spin On Police' Heartbroken Friends Remember Tamar Bucci Before She Was a Trooper
SOMERVILLE (CBS) -- Massachusetts State Police Trooper Tamar Bucci had just turned 34. Her friends had flooded her inbox with birthday greetings, then woke up Friday morning to learn the heartbreaking news. She was killed overnight when a truck slammed into her as she tried to pull over to help another driver on the side of Interstate 93.
It was Bucci's dream to become a trooper, but before she achieved that dream, Bucci shared her passion for fitness as a trainer.
Bianca Peixoto was one of Bucci's clients while she worked at the Assembly Sports Club in Somerville.
"She helped me in so many ways, just like I bet she helped so many people whether it's in training or putting her life on the line," Peixoto told WBZ-TV.
Peixoto said Bucci was someone who always put family and faith first. She'll remember her as a best friend and a bright light who changed her life for the better.
"She was one smart girl, and she will be missed, but I'm going to continue doing everything she taught me moving forward," said Peixoto.
"She said, 'I want to do something greater you know, and I want to be this police officer that everybody remembers.'" said Jerry Carballo, remembering a conversation with Bucci when they both worked at Assembly Sports Club in Somerville as trainers a few years before she joined the police.
Fitness trainers who used to work with Bucci recalled the day she was accepted to the State Police.
"She was ecstatic about getting accepted," said Pat Catino.
"She was ready for that. That was what she was meant to do," said Carballo. That's why the day she graduated with her state police class at Gillette Stadium in 2020 meant so much to her.
"Her childhood dream, she told me, to become not a police officer, a state trooper," said the club's general manager Jo-Anne Sullivan. "She wanted a different spin on police officers. She wanted people to know that they're not the bad guy."
The news of Bucci's sudden death hit her former co-workers hard. A couple of retired Massachusetts State Troopers who worked security with her at Encore before she became a trooper dropped off flowers at the Medford barracks. The flag out front was at half-staff.
Police across Massachusetts are mourning the loss of Trooper Bucci.
"The department is devastated by her loss," said State Police Colonel Christopher Mason at a media briefing Friday morning. "The tremendous outpouring of support shown by troopers and local officers at the hospital last night is a testimony to the respect and admiration that Trooper Bucci earned in her chosen field in just the two short years she was wearing the badge."
