Thousands pay respects to fallen state police trooper

A Massachusetts State Police trooper killed in the line of duty last week was remembered at her funeral Mass on Wednesday, not just for her dedication to her dream job, but for her spirituality, her sense of fun and the love she brought to those who knew her.

Tamar Bucci died last week at a hospital after her cruiser was struck by a tanker truck as she pulled over to help a driver in distress on Interstate 93 in Stoneham.

About 2,000 members of the law enforcement community, including hundreds of her fellow troopers, attended the funeral Mass both inside St. Anthony of Padua Church in Revere, and standing vigil outside. Six female troopers, all members of Bucci's police academy graduation class from two years ago, served as pallbearers and carried her casket into the church.

“She is now protecting all of us from above, and I am confident that we will continue to feel her presence here on Earth,” Bucci's stepfather, Jim Burditt, said during the Mass.

Col. Christopher Mason, the state police commander, said before the service that Bucci was the quintessential trooper.

“She was just really a decent, good person,” he said. “Somebody you would want to have as a coworker, somebody you would want to represent your agency, and somebody you would want to serve the public. She really was a trooper for the times that we are in now. So that is what makes this such a great loss for the Massachusetts State Police, and of course the Bucci family.”

She is the 22nd trooper in the department’s history to die in the line of duty.

Bucci became a trooper during a graduation ceremony at Gillette Stadium in May 2020.

The driver of the truck is cooperating with police and the investigation into the crash is ongoing.