WAKEFIELD, MASS. (WHDH) - A man who was shot by police after he charged at officers with a knife in a home in Wakefield earlier this week has been arrested on a murder charge in connection with the apparent stabbing death of his mother, officials announced Thursday.
Timothy Martin, 23, of Manchester, New Hampshire, is slated to be arraigned at a later date on charges including murder and three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in the death of 61-year-old Pamela Wood, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan and Wakefield Police Chief Steven A. Skory.
Officers conducting a well-being check at a home at 11 Otis St. just before 10 a.m. on Tuesday found Wood dead in the basement, Ryan and Skory said.
Wood, a speech therapist at the Greenwood Elementary School, had suffered “multiple traumatic injuries” prior to her death and was “obviously deceased,” Ryan said.
Some of Wood’s wounds were “consistent with a knife,” Ryan added. A subsequent search of her home yielded two knives.
Martin was shot by police when he suddenly emerged from a corner of the basement and charged at responding officers with a knife over his head, officials said.
“The suspect refused to put down the knife at their command. Two Wakefield officers discharged their weapons, striking Mr. Martin,” Ryan said. “There was no expectation that anybody else would be there.”
Martin was taken to Lahey Hospital in Burlington. He has since undergone surgery and remains hospitalized in stable condition.
Wood was reportedly last in contact with family on Sunday.
A preliminary investigation suggests that when Wood failed to show up for a scheduled 8:30 a.m. appointment at the school, officials notified her family. Firefighters were later called upon to gain access to the home because family members did not have a key.
Five Wakefield police officers received treatment at area hospitals as a precautionary measure and they have since been released.
The two officers who fired their service weapons have been placed on administrative leave per department policy.
State troopers assigned to Ryan’s office are assisting Wakefield police with an investigation.
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