Update as of 2 p.m. ET: A Massachusetts police officer died on Sunday after a man attacked him with a rock before stealing his gun and shooting him several times, officials said. A woman was also reportedly killed by the same man as he fled.
Weymouth police officer Michael Chesna was identified as the officer who was gunned down in the shooting before 8 a.m. local time, MassLive.com reported. The suspect was allegedly fleeing the scene of a car crash near South Shore Hospital.
Following the incident, Chesna, 42, was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Chesna, an Army veteran who had a wife and children, was later pronounced dead, the report said.
Earlier update:
A police officer in Massachusetts was shot and is in critical condition on Sunday morning, according to officials.
The unnamed officer was taken to the South Shore Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police describe the officer’s condition as “very critical,” WCVB reported.
A witness told WCVB that she heard officers yelling at someone to put a gun down. Then, she said, between 10 and 15 shots were fired.
Weymouth Police told CBS Boston that there was an altercation when an officer responded to a call regarding an erratic driver near the South Shore Hospital.
“I opened up the back door and instantly there was an officer there and then more came running out behind all those houses,” a witness told CBS Boston, adding that the shots took place at around 7:30 a.m. local time. “I did hear the cops telling him ‘put the gun down, put the gun down.’”
The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said that one person is in custody in connection with the shooting, NECN reported.
Witnesses told the Boston Globe that the suspect crashed into another car before leaving the scene on foot and shooting the officer. Several bullets hit a home located nearby.
Neither the identities of the officer nor the suspect were revealed.
