WOBURN, MASS. (WHDH) - A veteran Reading police officer pleaded not guilty to a manslaughter charge Wednesday in connection with the 2018 fatal shooting of Alan Greenough, officials said.
Officer Erik Drauschke faced a judge in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, weeks after a grand jury indicted him in the shooting death, according to a statement issued by Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan’s Office.
On Feb. 3, 2018, officers responded to the East Coast Gas and Service Station on Main Street in Reading around 4 p.m. after receiving a report of an alleged domestic assault and battery committed by Greenough, 43, upon two other residents. The police had responded to that same location for similar allegations involving Greenough and the same two victims on the previous night.
When they arrived, officers learned that Greenough had locked himself in his apartment.
Officers had discussions through the locked doors and windows with Greenough, allegedly pleading with him to surrender to them peacefully – but prosecutors allege he was agitated and, at one point, had an approximately 3-foot-long broken table leg in his hands as he yelled from a window to the police.
After Greenough left the house through a rear window, officer Drauschke found him sitting in a vehicle and didn’t wait for assistance even though other police officers were in close proximity, according to the statement.
That’s when prosecutors say Drauschke opened the car door and took out his service firearm as he ordered Greenough out of the car.
Greenough allegedly exited the car with both of his hands inside his sweatshirt pocket, quickly approached Drauschke, refusing to take his hands out of his pockets and yelled, “…Shoot me, shoot me…”.
Drauschke fired twice, striking Greenough in the chest.
Greenough was unarmed and a search of the area did not yield any weapons.
He was transported from the scene and subsequently died as a result of his injuries.
Drauschke’s attorney, Peter Pasciucco, said his client’s use of deadly force was warranted.
“Absolutely overcharged. This was a case that there was a lot of disagreement within the district attorney’s office as to whether to charge him,” Pasciucco told reporters outside the courthouse. “This will be a trial and that trial will clearly show he acted consistent with his training in the act of self-defense.”
Pasciucco added that Drauschke “should not have had to gamble with his safety,” calling the shooting a “tragic situation that the suspect created.”
Drauschke has since been placed on unpaid administrative leave, Town Manager Robert W. LeLacheur Jr. and Reading Police Chief David Clark said.
“The Reading Police Department has cooperated fully with the district attorney’s investigation over the past two-and-a-half years, and the agency will continue to cooperate fully,” Clark said in a statement.
Drauschke has been employed by the police department since September 2006.
A judge released Drauschke on personal recognizance. He is due back in court later this year.
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