Cheryl Anne Troy, a 50-year-old woman from the North Shore who served as vice president for human resources at Edgewater Technology, arrived at the Wakefield, Massachusetts, office on the morning of December 26, 2000, for what should have been a routine post-holiday workday. Before midday, an employee, Michael McDermott, began a methodical attack inside the suite at 200 Harvard Mill Square, moving through the lobby and offices with multiple firearms.
Prosecutors and contemporaneous reports indicate that Troy was among the first struck near the reception area as she tried to flee, and she died at the scene along with six colleagues. The massacre—later described as the deadliest mass shooting in Massachusetts history—ended only minutes after it began but left a permanent scar on families and the community.
Police responding to 911 calls encountered McDermott in the building lobby and arrested him without further gunfire. He was quickly charged with seven counts of murder, and details emerged that he had brought an AK-type rifle, a shotgun, and a handgun into the office, allegedly motivated by anger over a wage garnishment for back taxes. In April 2002 a Middlesex County jury convicted him on all seven counts of first-degree murder; because Massachusetts has no death penalty, he received seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
In the years since, public remembrances have continued to center the victims, including Troy, whose name appears on official accounts and memorial lists of those killed. Reporting from the time consistently identifies her role as the company’s human resources chief and confirms that she was one of the first targeted during the rampage. The case concluded with McDermott’s conviction and imprisonment; no other arrests or suspects were identified.
