Five New Hampshire State Police officers are under investigation for their use of deadly force in Keene last month, Attorney General John Formella announced Thursday.
David Ward, a 57-year-old man from Keene, died from multiple gunshot after an hours-long standoff that started as a traffic stop.
The five officers who fired their weapons at Ward were identified as sergeants Nicholas Levesque, Noah Sanctuary and Aramus Caraballo, as well as troopers Matthew Dushame and Jacob Hunt.
Keene police conducted a traffic stop of Ward and a female passenger on the afternoon of Aug. 12. The passenger exited the car, but Ward refused to do so and was reported to have a firearm.
That evening, officers with the New Hampshire State Police SWAT Unit surrounded Ward. Then, “there was gunfire, with multiple gunshot rounds striking the Unit’s armored vehicle and five troopers firing, ” according to the original press release.
Ward is the seventh person to be shot by police in New Hampshire this year. His shooting is the second resulting in death.
The attorney general’s office investigates every time police officers use deadly force and almost always rules that they are legally justified in their actions, meaning they are found to have reasonably believed their lives or the lives of others were in danger.
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Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter, covering all things government and politics with a focus on how decisions made at the New Hampshire State House impact people’s lives. She also writes about…
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