Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network

Massachusetts Police News, Information and Discussions on MassCops

Posted by: kwflatbed

Police Investigate Mansfield Incident

BOSTON -- A man was shot and killed in Mansfield Thursday.

The incident happened on School Street. Officials said that there was a bank robbery in the area at the time of the shooting. It is not known if the two incidents are connected.
NewsCenter 5 and TheBostonChannel.com will have more information when it becomes available.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news...80/detail.html

---

Posted by: kwflatbed

Heist suspect shot dead
Police kill alleged bank robber after standoff in Mansfield


BY TED NESI AND
GEORGE W. RHODES
SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Friday, April 25, 2008 1:18 AM EDT



MANSFIELD — Police shot and killed an alleged bank robber on Thursday afternoon following a car chase and a nearly 20-minute standoff near a busy day care center on School Street.

Police Chief Arthur O’Neill said his officers shot the alleged robber — who was not identified by name but was described as a young man in his early 20s — after he refused to obey police commands during the standoff and “confronted police in a threatening manner.”

Eyewitnesses told The Sun Chronicle the young man acted erratically throughout the standoff, darting back and forth behind his vehicle. He also ignored multiple warning shots police fired into the ground, as well as their shouted commands, they said.

“He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world,” said one witness, who lives only a few houses away from 155 School St., where the standoff took place, and watched the incident unfold from her front steps.

A second witness said police shot the alleged criminal after he reached into his pocket as if he was about to pull out a weapon. Both witnesses declined to give their names.

The police chief did not identify the two alleged robbers, but said they “looked familiar” to Mansfield detectives. O’Neill said he did not know whether the alleged robber was actually armed during the standoff.


A Massachusetts state trooper watch near the body of the alleged bank robber who was shot and killed by Mansfield police on Thursday. The incident happened on School Street, near Spring Street in Mansfield. (Staff photo by Mark Stockwell)

The deadly and dramatic events began shortly before 5 p.m., when police were notified that an armed robbery was under way at the North Easton Savings Bank at 71 Copeland Drive, O’Neill said. An unspecified amount of money was stolen, but it was later recovered by police.

When officers arrived at the bank, the alleged robber and an accomplice, who was also said to be a male in his early 20s, fled in a red Ford Explorer down Copeland Drive and toward Route 140.

Police chased the Explorer for about three-quarters of a mile and finally stopped it at the intersection of School and Spring streets, just before the state highway.

The second alleged robber, who was driving, stayed in the vehicle during the standoff and was unharmed, according to both police and witnesses. He was later arrested.

But the other young man jumped out of the car and began to move back and forth behind the Explorer. Witnesses said the five police officers on the scene repeatedly yelled: “Get down! Don’t do it!” But the man refused to follow their orders, and was eventually shot dead.

“They gave him plenty of time and opportunity” to yield, the second witness said, “and if he’d acted like his friend in the car, he’d be alive now.”

Although the incident is still being investigated, O’Neill said that it appears the officers involved “acted properly and with great restraint.” The two witnesses also praised the officers as “very professional,” and said they did nothing wrong.

In his 34 years on the force, O’Neill said, he couldn’t recall a previous episode when a Mansfield police officer had been forced to shoot a suspect. He did not identify which officer fired the fatal shot.

After the shooting, police from Mansfield, Norton, Foxboro, Attleboro and the state police rushed to the area from all directions. At one point there were an estimated 18 police vehicles at the scene, as well as a fire truck and an ambulance.


More than a dozen bullet casings littered the scene. The dead man lay covered by a gray blanket, with his legs on the lawn of 155 School St. and his torso on the sidewalk, for nearly four hours after the shooting while crime scene investigators did their work. The body was eventually taken away in a medical examiner’s truck around 9 p.m.

Witness said the second alleged robber was examined in the ambulance before he was arrested.

The Barnyard School of Mansfield, located diagonally across the street from the scene, was locked up during and after the standoff, O’Neill said. The children remained huddled inside the child care facility until nearly 6 p.m., when their parents came to get them.

The North Easton Savings Bank targeted in the robbery was closed after the robbery, although employees remained inside. A bank manager declined to comment on the incident.

The shooting also snarled traffic throughout downtown Mansfield during the evening rush hour. Police closed School Street while they conducted their investigation, which forced all drivers heading for the center of town to use Route 106.

Neighbors who live near the scene of the incident said it was unnerving. Ed and Erica Reynolds, who live on nearby Cobbler Road, said there have been a string of robberies in the area over the past two weeks.


Several local, state and unmarked police vehicles are at the scene. (Staff photo by Mark Stockwell)




Video: http://www.thesunchronicle.com/artic...ws/3097389.txt

---

Posted by: jmpc340

Having been involved in a shooting myself, I hope thaqt deapartment will have enough common sense to address the real needs of these officers. Thinking outside the box is key here.

---

Posted by: kwflatbed

Breaking News

Mother of Easton man shot dead after bank robbery says he battled drug addiction

GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE
The body of one of two alleged bank robbery suspect lies covered next a red Ford Explorer, possibly used in the getaway, at the intersection of School Street and Spring Street in Mansfield Thursday afternoon. The second suspect was taken away by ambulance and the scene closed off to all traffic.


By Staff reports
The Enterprise
Posted Apr 25, 2008 @ 02:34 AM
Last update Apr 25, 2008 @ 10:49 AM

MANSFIELD —
The mother of an Easton bank robbery suspect fatally shot by Mansfield said today that her son had battled drug addiction for years.
David A. Semenza Jr., 20, of 28 Gaslight Lane, North Easton, was shot by police late Thursday afternoon after a car he was in was stopped on School Street and he confronted officers “in a threatening manner,” Mansfield Police Chief Arthur O’Neill said. Semenza was shot after he appeared to reach for a weapon after officers repeatedly asked him to stop, O’Neill said.
"I want people to remember him as a fine young man with an addiction that took his life," Semenza's mother, Jaqueline Shea, said today. "My son was a loving son. He was a gentleman. He was a very good boy and he will be sorely missed."
Shea told The Enterprise that her son had battled a drug addiction for years and that she was a member of the area support group for parents of drug-addicted young adults, Learn to Cope.

The situation in Mansfield unfolded after police received a report of a robbery at North Easton Savings Bank on Copeland Drive at 4:53 p.m. Thursday.
Bristol County District Attorney’s spokesman Gregg Miliote said witnesses to the robbery gave police information about two men and their car. Officers stopped them on School Street at the intersection of Spring Street, nearly a mile from the bank.
Money taken from the bank as well as clothing worn during the robbery was recovered at the scene, police said.
The driver of the vehicle, George Moore, 21, of 41 Foundry St., Easton, was arrested, police said.
O’Neill said the officers involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave, as per Mansfield police policy. Miliote said state police assigned to the district attorney’s office are investigating.

http://www.enterprisenews.com/breaking/x2103873818

---

Posted by: kwflatbed

Driver Denies Role In Deadly Bank Robbery Shooting

George Moore in Attleboro District Court Friday.
WBZ


ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WBZ) ― A suspect in a bank robbery that ended in a deadly police shooting in Mansfield was ordered held without bail Friday.

George Moore, 21, of Easton, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Attleboro District Court.

Prosecutors say he was the getaway driver in a robbery at the North Easton Savings Bank on Copeland Drive Thursday evening.

Police stopped the SUV in a residential neighborhood about a mile from the bank.

Moore immediately surrendered and was arrested.

The suspected robber, David Semenza, 20, of North Easton, got out of the car, and according to police, did not surrender.

Investigators say he was shot by officers "after making furtive motions, reaching for something and failing to comply with numerous police orders."

Semenza died at the scene. It was not known if any weapon was found.

In court Friday, Moore's attorney said his client knew nothing about the robbery until after it had happened and Moore saw Semenza with the cash.

"I don't believe he sped away from the bank. As soon as the police were behind him he pulled right over. Every command they gave he obeyed," said defense attorney Daniel Rich.

Investigators say Semenza got away with $4,669 before he was shot.

Five officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave until the investigation is completed.

Police would not say how many shots were fired or how many officers discharged their weapons.

Moore has a lenghty history in the criminal court system, with past incidents of alleged theft and burglary, but no convictions. Prior to Thursday's incident, he was due in court in Taunton on an unrelated charge.

http://wbztv.com/local/mansfield.ban....2.708267.html

---

Posted by: OCKS

Crime doesn't pay. $4669 for a life?????

---

Posted by: Killjoy

This fool definitely got what he deserved.

---

Posted by: kwflatbed

Authorities: Bank robbery suspect from Easton was reaching for cell phone when cops shot him

The Easton man was shot by police after a suspected getaway vehicle was stopped by Mansfield police.



By Maureen Boyle
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Posted May 29, 2008 @ 02:21 AM
Last update May 29, 2008 @ 09:08 AM

MANSFIELD —
The Easton man killed after allegedly robbing a bank apparently was reaching for a cell phone when he was shot to death, a preliminary investigation found.
The final report on the investigation into the April 24 shooting death of David A. Semenza, 20, has not been completed.
But the preliminary findings show the item he was reaching for at the time was a cell phone, confirmed Gregg Miliote, spokesman for Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter.
Semenza, who had battled a heroin addiction, was shot by police after officers stopped the Ford Explorer believed to be the getaway vehicle in a bank robbery minutes earlier in Mansfield.
Officers opened fire after Semenza made “furtive motions” and was seen “reaching for something,” authorities said at the time. No weapon was found and no weapon was used in the robbery.
The five officers involved in the shooting are back on the job after receiving counseling, Mansfield Police Chief Arthur M. O’Neill said.
Four of the five officers at the scene fired shots, O’Neill said. The fifth officer was blocked by another officer at the time and didn’t shoot, he said.
Semenza’s family started a memorial fund at Citizens Bank in Easton to help heroin addicts get treatment.
The driver of the SUV, George F. Moore, 21, faces bank robbery charges.

http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/c...-cops-shot-him

---

Posted by: KozmoKramer

Quote:

Originally Posted by Killjoy This fool definitely got what he deserved.

Yep.. And thankfully the crumb didn't take an innocent person down.

---

Posted by: mtc

Was he looking to call someone or take pictures for his myspace page?

---

vBulletin Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited.
vB Easy Archive Final ©2000 - 2008 - Created by Stefan "Xenon" Kaeser