KITTERY, Maine (WHDH) – Police fatally shot a suspect during a standoff on the Piscataqua River Bridge between Maine and New Hampshire Thursday and an investigation is underway after both his wife and child were found dead, officials said.
At around 2:07 a.m., police received a 911 call from a man saying he had been in a fight with his wife at their home in Troy, N.H., Maine State Police Colonel Bill Ross said in a press conference. The man told authorities that his wife was dead.
The New Hampshire State Police responded to the home where they found the deceased woman, Ross said.
At around 2:30 a.m., officers from the Kittery Police Department in Maine found the man’s vehicle parked in the southbound lane in the middle of the Piscataqua River Bridge, according to Ross.
Authorities from both New Hampshire and Maine attempted to negotiate with the man and the bridge was shut down in both directions to protect the public, he said.
“Negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful,” Ross said.
The man left his vehicle and raised a gun, prompting a Maine state trooper and two New Hampshire state troopers to fatally shoot him, Ross said.
He fell from the bridge and the U.S. Coast Guard found him dead in the water, he continued. Police on the bridge then found an 8-year-old child fatally shot in back seat of the suspect’s vehicle.
The child’s death was “not associated with the police officers’ use of deadly force,” Ross said.
Authorities from both states are investigating the deaths of the woman and child.
Those in the neighborhood said they were devastated to hear about the incident.
“We have an 8-year-old granddaughter, and to lose somebody that precious is just sad,” he said.
The troopers involved in the man’s shooting were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, which is standard procedure, Ross said.
The bridge was re-opened around 9:30 a.m. Traffic had been diverted through alternate routes.
Later Thursday, investigators were seen processing the crime scene at the family’s home in Troy, N.H.
Neighbors said the family had recently moved into the neighborhood.
“I was doing crafts and I heard a bunch of car doors shutting and I looked out and from up there down was cops and ambulances and everything else,” one neighbor said.
This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
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