LOWELL, MASS. (WHDH) - A deadly shooting at a shopping plaza in Berlin lead to a tense standoff with law enforcement on I-495 in Lowell that shut down the highway in both directions for hours, according to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office.
The Berlin Police Department said they responded to a report of an assault in progress at the Shops At Highland Commons at approximately 3:30 p.m. When officers arrived, they found one person suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.
The Worcester County District Attorney’s Office said Berlin Police Department, Hudson Police Department, Berlin Fire Department and EMS, Bolton Fire Department, and Boylston Fire Department rendered aid, but the victim was declared deceased at the scene.
“It’s so unexpected, like, I would’ve never have thought someone would’ve gotten shot here,” said Owen Otto, who heard the shooting.
“It’s kind of sad to see that people do stuff like that, and it’s kind of alarming, like, you don’t really think about it. You kind of just, like, go through your every day life not thinking stuff like that will happen, and could happen, and stuff could really change so quickly in life,” said David Baca, who was shopping in the plaza at the time of the shooting.
— Witnesses recall scene of shooting at Berlin shopping plaza —
After the shooting, a witness from the scene followed the alleged suspect onto I-495 northbound, and subsequently called the Massachusetts State Police. Responding troopers located the suspect at mile marker 91, near the Lowell connector.
The Massachusetts State Police Crisis Negotiations Team, State Police Department of Field Services, and Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office responded to the scene.
A state police helicopter monitored the scene from above while troopers used a drone to get a look inside the suspect’s vehicle from the ground. Law enforcement agents eventually surrounded the pickup truck with heavily armed trucks, using a robot dog to break open a side window. Troopers then approached the pickup truck and punched out some other windows.
While law enforcement was involved in the standoff, MassDOT announced a temporary closure of I-495 northbound and southbound in Lowell. The highway remained closed for hours, but all lanes in both directions reopened at approximately 7:30 p.m.
— Hear from drivers stuck in Lowell traffic for hours —
A preliminary investigation suggests the suspect sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene in Lowell, according to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office.
The Berlin Police Department, Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, State Police Crime Scene Services (CSS), State Police Crash Reconstruction Section (CARS), State Police Firearms Identification Section (FIS), and the Office of the Chief Medical Examine are investigating.
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