From Newsgroup: alt.law-enforcement

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.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-killed-after-allegedly-opening-fire-2-m assachusetts/story?id=129970742

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