Somerville police investigate a triple stabbing that led to a Somerville woman's death Friday morning. - Photo by Bobbie Toner

Three officers stabbed in attack

By George P. Hassett and Tom Nash

A woman suspected of stabbing three Somerville police officers before being shot and killed Friday morning on Sycamore Terrace was released from psychiatric care shortly before the attack, according to sources.

Carol Lynn Kingsley, 33, of Somerville, had suffered with mental health and substance issues for years before she was killed Friday, according to friends, court records and neighbors.

One neighbor said Kingsley had been at the center of an incident about six months earlier in which she climbed on to her roof and threatened to jump.

“Her and her boyfriend used to drink and get crazy,” said neighbor Joshua Ramotar. “But whenever they spoke to me, they seemed like nice people. There had been trouble with them before but never anything like this.”

On Friday, police were initially called to 10 Sycamore Terrace at 3:30 a.m. Kingsley was brought to a Cambridge hospital but returned home in a taxi shortly after, neighbors said. Cambridge Health Alliance officials have declined comment on if or why Kingsley was released from care.

At 6:30 a.m., police were called back to Sycamore Terrace after Kingsley set fire to her boyfriend’s clothes.

Dante DiFronzo was one of three officers stabbed in an incident that led to police shooting and killing a 33-year-old Somerville woman.

When officers attempted to locate and question Kingsley, she allegedly brandished at least one knife and attacked the three responding officers. Two of the officers suffered serious wounds; one officer suffered stab wounds to his back, shoulder and arm and the other suffered stab wounds to his back and arm.

The officers have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure. Somerville Police Sergeant Neil Brennan said Monday that the three officers’ injuries ranged from a cut on the hand to what he would only classify as “serious.”

“They’ve been released and are resting comfortably at this point,” Brennan said.

Investigators from the Middlesex District Attorney’s office are conducting an investigation into the deadly shooting.

Friends and family of Kingsley are asking if the three officers had to use deadly force to control a 5-foot-3 inch, 125 pound woman. “I understand she had a knife and that she was out of control, but was it necessary to shoot her?” said a woman who declined to give her name but said she had been friends with Kingsley for 10 years.

Two of the officers stabbed – Jose Ramirez and Dante DiFronzo – were honored with life saving medals in December. A third officer, Mark DiFava, was also stabbed in the attack.

The neighbor who declined to give her name said the deadly incident did not make her feel unsafe in the area, a quiet stretch of homes off Broadway. “This was an isolated, crazy person who had caused trouble before.”