Sean Collier, 26, ID’d As Slain MIT Officer

The MIT officer killed in last night’s standoff on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been identified as 26-year-old Sean Collier by the Middlesex County District Attorney.

Sean Collier of Somerville was the officer reported down as the confrontation began to unfold late last night. Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, also 26, was killed in the ensuing firefight, reportedly run down by his own brother, suspect at large Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Collier began his tenure at MIT in January of 2012 and, prior to that, was a civilian employee of the Somerville Police Department.

Before the chaotic scene began at MIT last night, Sean Collier was found wounded in his vehicle at 10:30 pm, shot several times near Vassar and Main streets in Cambridge. Collier was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital and pronounced dead of his injuries.

After Collier was shot, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev reportedly carjacked a driver, stealing his ATM card and attempting to gain money before ultimately successfully withdrawing $800 during the incident.

The victim of the carjacking that followed Collier’s shooting has not been identified, but MSNBC reports that the man says Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev claimed to have shot an MIT officer (presumably Collier) and admitted to bombing the Boston Marathon.

Hero RT @abcworldnews: Middlesex DA: MIT Officer killed confronting Boston suspects: Sean Collier, 26, of Somerville twitter.com/ABC/status/325…

— Cecil Hurt (@CecilHurt) April 19, 2013

In the aftermath, MIT released the following statement addressing the death of Sean Collier: “MIT is heartbroken by the news that an MIT Police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty on Thursday night on campus, near Building 32 (the Stata Center). Our thoughts are now with the family.”