ERVING — The Worcester County District Attorney’s Office is investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting on Wednesday night that resulted in the death of a 55-year-old New York resident in Erving, according to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr.
Police in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, were searching for a suspect wanted in connection with a recent homicide, a stabbing death reportedly of the suspect’s girlfriend. Investigators developed information that the suspect may be in Erving, Massachusetts, and located his vehicle outside the French King Motel and Restaurant in Erving.
Members of the Massachusetts State Police and the Northwestern District Anti-Crime Task Force responded to the location. When officers encountered the suspect, he was wielding a knife. Officers gave multiple verbal commands for him to drop his weapon, but he did not comply and instead charged toward officers.
The officers discharged their department-issued firearms, striking the individual.
Early said the man went to the ground, and he was told to stay there, but he got up with the knife in his hand and was then shot several more times.
The suspect, identified as Brandon William Hampson, 55, of New York, was transported to Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, where he was pronounced deceased.
At the request of the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office and Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office are the lead investigative agency in this matter to avoid any perceived conflict of interest and to ensure an independent review of the circumstances. The investigation remains ongoing, and additional information will be released as appropriate.
Col. Geoffrey Noble, head of the Massachusetts State Police, said in a press conference that “the man’s presence in Massachusetts posed a significant danger.”
Police wanted “to bring the situation to a peaceful resolution and ensure that everyone goes home safely,” Noble said. “But our officers and troopers also understand that these encounters come with not only an element of danger but of the unexpected and that these incidents can change in a matter of seconds, and that’s what happened here. During this police encounter the suspect presented himself armed with a deadly weapon like the DA said and refused the commands of law enforcement. He escalated the situation and left our law enforcement officers with an extraordinarily difficult split-second decision to use force in defense of their own lives and the lives of others.”
“They are asked to move toward danger when others are moving away from it,” Noble said. “Every day our officers and troopers answer the call, calls that carry with it the possibility of danger. And that may require a life-or-death decision to protect themselves or others. We train extensively for encounters like this but training does not diminish the extraordinary difficulty of having to make a life-or-death decision in real time. These task force officers have the full support of their command as they process the weight of what they experienced last night and we will stand with them in the days and weeks ahead …
“But at the same time this tragedy will also have a profound impact on the individuals, the suspect’s family and loved ones, we understand that and we recognize that loss and our thoughts remain with them as they confront the pain of what happened here.”
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