Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting Under Investigation in Newton

NEWTON – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan has confirmed that today at approximately 1:43 p.m. Newton Police received a 911 call from a business located on Lincoln Street in Newton for what the dispatcher interpreted as a robbery.  Two Newton Police Officers, one in plain clothes and one uniformed arrived first on scene and located a 28-year-old male, who lived on another floor of the building, in possession of a knife.  After police arrived on scene, the man fled upstairs and was pursued by police to the third floor.

Police called for backup including additional police officers and a clinician with mental health expertise. Additional officers arrived on scene including Newton Police and two Massachusetts State Police troopers who had just completed a uniformed detail on Commonwealth Avenue and who heard the radio call and also responded to the scene.

During the subsequent interaction, Newton Police deployed less than lethal force using a beanbag shot gun. At 2:01 p.m., a Massachusetts State Police Trooper also deployed a Taser that failed to subdue the suspect. Newton Police fired striking the man. The man was transported to Newton Wellesley hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Several officers also received treatment at area hospitals but were not seriously injured during the incident.

The name of the man is being withheld at this time pending next of kin notification.  We are still in the early stages of this investigation.  The facts and circumstances of the altercation are part of that investigation and additional information will be released as it becomes available.