WOBURN, MASS. (WHDH) - Video obtained by 7News shows the moment a masked man ran into a Woburn courthouse and pepper-sprayed a court officer Monday.
Nicholas Akerberg, 28, of Yarmouth Port, deployed pepper spray in the lobby of Woburn District Court before he was tackled to the ground by law enforcement, police said. The building was evacuated following the attack.
Court security cameras recorded a man, later identified as Akerberg, entering the courthouse and using the spray. Prosecutors say he was wearing a helmet, gas mask, tactical boots, and sunglasses at the time.
“As I mentioned, your imagination goes to the worst. When you look at that and see somebody coming through, barrel through the metal detector, it’s very frightening,” said Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan.
Akerberg, a Stoneham police detective, and three court officers were all taken to the hospital for treatment, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say Akerberg was carrying eight cans of pepper spray and two smoke bombs.
He had been scheduled to appear in court Monday following an incident in Stoneham last year, where two police officers there were pepper-sprayed.
“It is not going to be tolerated,” said Ryan. “We can’t have courthouses, where people can go, resolve their cases… This is a real assault on the rule of law.”
Akerberg was arraigned later Monday and is being held without bail. The judge ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He is due back in court next month.
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