Suspect dead after shooting in Berlin, Massachusetts leads to standoff on I-495 in Lowell

A suspect is dead after a shooting in Berlin, Massachusetts led to a standoff on I-495 in Lowell Tuesday evening. The incident shut down the busy highway for hours, snarling rush hour traffic

Berlin Police said that around 3:30 p.m., they received a call from the Highland Commons shopping area about a shooting involving two men. The suspect and the victim, who knew each other, had gotten into an altercation before the victim was shot several times, police said. The male victim was given aid on the scene before he died. He was identified as 35-year-old Nicholas Ferreira from Haverhill.

Worcester County District Attorney Joe Early Jr. explained that the suspect then drove away, but was followed by a witness in another car. 

The suspect made it onto I-495 before State Police found him and forced him to pull over in the median. The highway was then shut down in both directions at 4:30 p.m. WBZ-TV I-Team sources said police then called a negotiator to the scene. 

"We used our robot dog to break the window, but unfortunately the window tint we couldn't get past it. We had to use non-lethal rounds to break the rest of the window. Then we used a drone to identify that the suspect was deceased," State Police Deputy Superintendent Dan Tucker said. 

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said that they believe the man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suspect has been identified as 43-year-old Edward Pyne from Salem, New Hampshire. Early said that he had a criminal history. 

"Amazing amount of teamwork that was involved in this. This all happened really quickly," he said. "Their training really came out today. They're the professionals. They did an amazing job."

Massachusetts State Police and Berlin Police are investigating. Lowell and Berlin are about 27 miles apart. Shoppers at the Highland Commons in Berlin were stunned by what happened.

"So unexpected. I never thought that someone would have gotten shot here. It's such a nice place, so many nice stores, so many nice people. I was in shock," said Owen Otto. "I hope nothing like this ever happens again here." 

"We came over here and saw it. It's just crazy. Stuff like that never happens up here," David Baca said. "We're here every day."

Throughout the incident, cars could be seen driving onto the median to turn around. Route 495 was reopened later Tuesday evening.

"We want to thank the public that was in the area at that time. It was a very trying time for them; there was a lot of patience involved," Tucker said.