By Brian Fraga Standard-Times staff writer May 15, 2008 6:00 AM
NEW BEDFORD — Police officers shot and killed a city man reportedly armed with two knives during a confrontation Wednesday in the South End. Police said they would identify the man at a news conference today at New Bedford Police Headquarters. New Bedford police spokesman Lt. Jeffrey P. Silva said the incident occurred around 4:50 p.m. after police officers responded to a report of a knife-wielding man threatening neighbors on Ellen Street, located off Brock Avenue in the South End. When the officers arrived, they found the man armed with two knives, Lt. Silva said. The man reportedly threatened the officers, who repeatedly ordered him to drop the knives. Lt. Silva declined to say if the man lunged at the officers, but he said their lives were threatened. He said the shooting occurred inside the man's residence at 5 Ellen St., a duplex located near the corner of Cleveland Street. Lt. Silva said the officers were acting in self-defense when they shot the man. "When the assailant refused to drop the knives, the officers had to defend themselves," Lt. Silva said. The man died at the scene. Two women said to be related to the man were seen entering the duplex around 10:15 p.m. They were escorted by police detectives. Contacted Wednesday night, New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang expressed his condolences but defended police. "It's a tremendous tragedy, I'm sure, for the deceased's family," Mayor Lang said. "It's also a tremendous, difficult situation for police officers. If their lives are put in danger, then I fully expect them to defend themselves. These are terrible events police officers have to be involved in." As a standard protocol, the shooting will be investigated by detectives in the New Bedford Police Department's Major Crimes Unit, as well as investigators from the Professional Standards Division and the Massachusetts State Police unit assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office. The officers involved in Wednesday's shooting will be placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. "That is not indicative of any wrongdoing," Lt. Silva said. "It's standard protocol whenever there is an officer-involved shooting." Mayor Lang said he expected to be further briefed on the shooting before he attends today's news conference. He lamented reports that the man who was shot was armed with knives and had threatened the officers. "There is absolutely no redeeming value to somebody having these weapons," Mayor Lang said. "When they go to use them, it leads to tremendous consequences." Wednesday's fatal police shooting is the first in New Bedford since Oct. 26, 2006, when Lamont S. Cruz, 38, was shot and killed by two officers inside 60 Thomas St., a rooming house known for drug activity. Mr. Cruz was shot when he pulled a realistic-looking pellet handgun in front of Officers Justin Kagan and Arthur Hegarty, according to a report from the District Attorney's Office. After questioning the officers and several witnesses and reviewing crime scene photos and other evidence, the District Attorney's Office cleared Officers Kagan and Hegarty of any wrongdoing. In July 2005, a Fairhaven man shot at two New Bedford police officers during a traffic stop on the New Bedford-Fairhaven bridge. The officers returned fire, and the man was seen running behind a gas station near Pope's Island. The man was found dead three hours later from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The officers were not injured.
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