POSTED: 6:24 am EST November 3, 2005
UPDATED: 12:01 pm EST November 3, 2005
FITCHBURG, Mass. -- An unidentified motorist is not expected to survive after being shot by a State Police trooper in Fitchburg early Thursday morning, allegedly after failing to stop for an officer and hitting a parked car.
"We have one suspect that was in the vehicle was transported to UMass Medical Center with serious injuries. The trooper was treated for a minor injury to his hand ... the investigation is ongoing. We have all our crime scene services, detectives from the district attorney's office, and we'll be conducting an investigation, both administratively and also a criminal investigation into the incident," State Police Lt. Sharon Costine said.
NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that the incident took place about 2 a.m., when the officer tried to make a routine traffic stop on Nashua Street. The driver of the car kept going, however, and State Police were called in to help.
At some point, a 12-year veteran State Trooper assigned to the Leominster barracks shot the motorist on Spruce Street. The man was hospitalized at UMass Medical Center in Worcester, Mass. He is in critical condition.
Copyright 2005 by TheBostonChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Delta, the HF freq (around 42 MC) is still in use...the Troop B cars still have the 1/4 wave whip...back east they have the 1/8 wave...similar in size to a CB antenna. There are still places around the troop where it is useless...dead spots.
A Boston lawyer filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against a State Police trooper who fatally shot an unarmed Worcester man after a high-speed chase in Fitchburg in 2005.
In the wrongful death lawsuit, the lawyer, Stephen Hrones, accuses Trooper Donald C. Gray of using excessive force and violating the civil rights of the man he shot and killed, Preston Johnson, a 30-year-old father of three.
As administrator of Johnson's estate, Hrones said in the suit that he is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in addition to lawyer's fees. He did not specify an amount.
State Police declined to comment. Johnson's family and Gray could not be reached for comment.
About 2 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2005, authorities said Gray shot Johnson after a police chase in Fitchburg in what Gray contended was self-defense.
On June 20, 2006, Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte declined to prosecute Gray despite a judge's report that the trooper had engaged in "wanton and reckless conduct," according to court records and lawyers involved in the case.
The pursuit began after Johnson's sport utility vehicle crossed the center line on Route 12 in Fitchburg and nearly hit Gray's marked cruiser, according to reports by Framingham District Court Judge Robert V. Greco, who was assigned to the case.
Gray, accompanied by Fitchburg police Officer Douglas Darton in another marked vehicle, chased Johnson through a residential neighborhood, Hrones's suit said.
The pursuit ended with Darton's car in front of Johnson's and Gray's car behind Johnson, the lawsuit said. Johnson attempted to drive away. Gray fired one bullet toward the SUV, striking him in the head.
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