Man who shot officer in Raymond, New Hampshire, found dead after shootout with police, AG says
After an hours-long manhunt, the suspect who shot and wounded an officer earlier on Saturday in Raymond, New Hampshire was found dead after a shootout with police, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella.
Officers originally arrived at a home on Ham Road around 1:30 p.m. after a report that a man, later identified as 38-year-old Matthew J. Masse, was shooting at his family. Neighbors said that he was using a rifle from a second-floor window.
The suspect then began to shoot at the police and hit one of them, according to New Hampshire State Police. The officer was taken to a New Hampshire hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. He was released from the hospital on Monday.
New Hampshire State Police said the suspect then fled the area. Residents in the area were asked to shelter in place.
Formella said officers "made contact" with Masse in the woods just after 10 p.m. and tried to take him into custody.
"There was an exchange of gunfire between Mr. Masse with his rifle and the officers," Formella said in a statement. "Following that exchange, Mr. Masse was found deceased by officers when they approached his location."
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner announced on Monday that Masse had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had also received a shrapnel wound to his elbow.
Suspect's mother speaks
WBZ-TV spoke with Masse's mother on the phone. Trudy Willette said that her son has a history of mental illness and drug addiction. She said he set fire to the home on Thursday, stealing prescription medication and an assault rifle.
Willette said local authorities didn't do enough to find her son before the shooting happened. She said her family had been telling authorities for days to search the area where her son was eventually found by family members.
"We've been telling this town, there's a empty house on the end of our road, he's probably in the house," she said. "Everyone's been telling the cops that, check the house, check the house."
Raymond Police Chief Michael Labell said law enforcement had been searching around-the-clock since Thursday.
"Since that time we've been working feverishly with other agencies in attempting to locate him," Labell said. "We followed up several-leads to include (Saturday) deploying the special operations unit in an area where we thought he may be. Unfortunately that led us to nothing."
"Feeling very let down"
Willette said it's an unimaginable and heartbreaking time for her family.
"I am feeling very let down by my police department, that my son with mental illness is being let down, I feel let down as a citizen," she said.
Despite all the problems, Kodey Masse said deep down Masse was the brother he knew and loved.
"In there somewhere, that person's there. You need to remember it. You need to fight for that person because they're having a hard time fighting for themselves," Kodey told WBZ Sunday.
Raymond, New Hampshire is about 65 miles north of Boston.
