BRAINTREE, MASS. (WHDH) - Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey ruled that Braintree police were justified in the fatal shooting of a man who wounded two officers and killed a K-9 during an ambush in Braintree back in June.
Officers responding to the home of a woman who reported that she had been physically assaulted around 12:45 p.m. on June 4 learned that the suspect, Andrew Homen, 34, had fled the scene and was in possession of two firearms, according to the DA’s office.
The DA released the frantic 9-1-1 call where a woman claims a gun was held to her head during a domestic dispute and the suspect took off.
Police set up a perimeter around the densely wooded area where Homen was last seen on foot and placed the nearby East Braintree Middle School on lockdown.
Braintree Police Officer William Cushing and his K-9 partner Kitt arrived at the scene and entered the woods in search of Homen alongside officers Richard Siebert and Matthew Donoghue, the DA’s office said.
Around 1:30 p.m., K-9 Kitt signaled that he was getting close to Homen before Cushing located someone hidden behind a rock, the DA’s office added.
Cushing reportedly yelled for Homen to “show me your hands.”
Kitt continued to advance toward Homen, at which point Homen allegedly fired three rounds in quick succession in what the DA’s office described as an ambush.
Kitt was fatally struck by the gunfire and Cushing and Donoghue were wounded, the DA’s office said.
The officers returned fire, the DA’s office added.
Additional officers assisted Cushing and Donoghue to awaiting ambulances.
Homen was also removed from the wooded area and transported to South Shore Hospital by ambulance, where he was pronounced dead.
Morrisey wrote in his ruling that he found the three officers’ use of force against Homen was “objectively reasonable and justified” because “Homen was involved in a series of violent crimes and presented an immediate threat to the officers or others, including the children in the East Middle School.”
“I also find that Homen fled, was armed, and was actively resisting arrest, failed to follow instructions to disarm himself or show his hands when requested to, was attempting to evade arrest by flight into the adjacent wooded area, and discharged his weapon at the police and K-9 Kitt,” Morrissey continued.
He added that in light of these findings, the DA’s office will be taking no further action relative to the three officers.
“They did exactly what they were trained to do. They were tracking a suspect that was wanted, armed with two firearms, assaulted somebody, violence was involved,” police Chief Mark Dubois explained.
All three officers are out on medical leave and two of them are awaiting upcoming surgieries. Dubois said there are no plans to replace K9 Kitt at this time.
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