A suspected gunman was fatally shot by Massachusetts police officers early Sunday after he allegedly opened fire on them with a fully automatic firearm, leaving two officers injured, authorities said.
The shooting occurred just after midnight outside of a residence in Fall River, Massachusetts, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said in a statement.
The fatal confrontation with Nigel Vaughn, 40, of Fall River, happened just minutes after the suspect had been questioned and released at a gas station after officers investigated a reckless driving complaint, according to the statement.
The two Fall River officers injured in the subsequent shooting suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Quinn said. He said one officer suffered a bullet wound to his elbow and the other was shot in the abdomen, but was saved by his bulletproof vest, the prosecutor said.
A third officer at the scene was not injured, officials said.
“The suspect has a violent history and the officers were just doing their job on a brutally cold night, trying to protect the community,” Quinn said. “Through the grace of God, all of the officers’ lives were spared.”
The shooting unfolded around 12:13 a.m. after three officers responded to a 911 call reporting an armed man sitting in a vehicle outside of a home, according to the joint statement from Quinn and the Fall River Police Department.
When the officers arrived at the address, they encountered the suspect sitting in a dark-colored SUV, officials said.
Due to the nature of the 911 call, the officers conducted a pat-down search of the suspect, the statement said.
“During that process, the suspect began to violently resist, which resulted in a physical struggle with the officers,” according to the statement, which included images of the confrontation taken from police body-camera footage.
“During the physical struggle, the suspect produced a firearm,” the statement continued. “While on the ground, the suspect began firing at police, striking one officer in the elbow and a second officer in the abdomen, striking his bullet-resistant vest.”
The officers returned fire, striking the suspect, who was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
The suspect was allegedly armed with a Glock handgun, which was recovered at the scene, according to the statement. The firearm was modified with a device called a “switch,” which converts some Glock firearms into fully-automatic weapons, police said.
“The switch made the weapon fully automatic, capable of firing multiple rounds with one trigger pull,” according to the statement.
A motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
Prior to the shooting, Fall River Police officers interacted with the suspect at a gas station, located on the same street, just before midnight after responding to a call about a possible physical altercation in progress and someone driving recklessly in the parking lot, according to the statement.
“When police arrived, they located the suspect in the gas station lot in a dark-colored SUV along with two other individuals. After a brief interaction, the suspect was told to leave the private lot,” according to the statement.
“We are deeply grateful that our officers are able to return home to their families tonight,” Fall River Police Chief Kelly Furtado said in the statement. “Each day, they serve with dedication to protect our community. Incidents like this underscore the inherent risks of this profession and remind us how fortunate we are to be served by such courageous men and women.”
