COHASSET, MASS. (WHDH) - Newly-obtained video shows the moment a chainsaw attack unfolded at a police station in Cohasset last year, showing a man entering the police station and cutting into a door.
The incident happened on Dec. 18, 2022. New video now comes on the heels of a guilty plea in the case and shows the moment when local landscaper Brien Buckley initially drove his dump truck onto the police station’s front lawn.
In video, Buckley is seen cutting up a cardboard box which had been delivered to an employee. He is then seen barging into the police station foyer where he begins to cut away at a steel security door.
A freighted civilian was working the reception desk at the time of the incident and locked herself in an office, according to Cohasset police Lt. Michael Lopes.
“That’s what really hits me in this,” Lopes said. “I really feel for her. I’m sure it was a very traumatizing experience for her.”
Lopes said the person working at the reception desk has since left the department.
“That was her last day,” he said. “She has not been back.”
A photo shared with 7NEWS showed Buckley carved his phone number and the words “Good luck” into the door. Police said he then took off in his truck and drove to his house.
Later, during a five-hour standoff with a SWAT team, Buckley tossed toys and bloody toilet paper at a police vehicle. He also held up his two young children by a window as police surrounded the home.
Police ultimately found the children with no shirts on. Officers wrapped the children up and got them to safety.
When officers entered the home, Lopes said Buckey “did want to fight them.”
“They did have to tase him,” Lopes said.
A grand jury indicted Buckley after his initial arraignment in connection with these incidents. The 36-year-old subsequently pleaded guilty last week to various charges including assault with a dangerous weapon, resisting arrest and two counts of child endangerment.
Speaking with 7NEWS on Tuesday, Lopes said Buckley called police asking for help before he showed up with the chainsaw.
“I believe he was looking for childcare and was unhappy that the police weren’t able to provide that,” he said.
Police officials said they believe Buckley had a breakdown due to issues in his marriage.
In addition to his case linked to the Cohasset police station, court documents show he also pleaded guilty last week to charges of assault and battery on a family member and strangulation in a separate case connected to an incident at his home in August of 2022.
The Norfolk County District Attorney’s office last week asked the judge in Buckley’s case to go with a sentence of 2.5 years in jail. The judge obliged. Once he is released, Buckley will be on probation.
Cohasset police officials said they hope Buckley also receives mental health counseling, which the judge asked to happen.
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