Man fatally shot, police sergeant injured during standoff in Mass. town

A man died and two police officers were shot in Hinsdale after a standoff Wednesday prompted by concerns about the man’s mental health, officials said.

Just before 3 p.m. Tuesday, the FBI’s National Threat Operation Center contacted the Dalton Police Department about a man who called the center and made claims that “sparked mental health concerns,” according to the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office. The man reportedly told the NTOC that he was paranoid that law enforcement were listening to his phone calls, alleged that he and his family were attacked by organized crime groups, and expressed fears about a “machine” in his basement.

The man told the NTOC that the supposed machine would “damage the body,” “drain life,” and cause suicidal thoughts, the DA’s office said in a statement. He said he was not suicidal but was worried that “police and others were attempting to harm him,” according to the DA’s office.

The NTOC asked Dalton police to perform a well-being check on the man Tuesday after the man implied that he was from the Berkshire County town. Officers attempted to investigate but were unable to find the man, according to the DA’s office.

The next day, law enforcement issued a warning to be on the lookout for the man, and at about 10 a.m., Hinsdale’s police chief contacted Dalton police. He informed them that the man might be at 53 Off South St. in Hinsdale, the DA’s office said.

About 25 minutes later, the man called 911 and locked himself in a bedroom on the first floor of that Hinsdale residence, officials said. The man first expressed concerns that people were after him but later stated that he wished to negotiate with police and wanted to avoid himself or anyone else getting harmed, according to the DA’s office.

Someone, later confirmed to be one of the man’s juvenile family members, could be heard in the background of the call trying to get into the room that he had locked himself in, prosecutors said. Later in the call, the man became agitated again.

By this point, the chief, along with a Hinsdale police sergeant, another Hinsdale officer, and two Dalton officers, had responded to 53 Off South St., according to the DA’s office. The man agreed to speak with the sergeant after developing a “positive rapport” with him, according to prosecutors.

The man hung up from 911 and spoke with the sergeant for about half an hour, at which point police determined that it was necessary for them to take him into custody. The sergeant breached the door and restrained the man, who had a gun in one hand and continued to struggle as he repeatedly asked to be killed, the DA’s office said.

The officers eventually restrained the man, securing him face down on a bed, but he held on to his gun and continued to struggle. He fired his gun, shooting the sergeant through the hand and hitting the chief, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, in the chest, according to the DA’s office.

An officer deployed a taser twice, briefly subduing the man, who continued to struggle and express his wish to be killed, prosecutors said. A Hinsdale officer fired his gun twice, first hitting the sergeant in the elbow and then hitting the man in the head, officials said.

The man and law enforcement were taken to Berkshire Medical Center to be examined and treated for their injuries. Though both officers survived, the man died of his injuries later Wednesday afternoon, according to prosecutors.

The sergeant was transferred to Albany Medical Center in New York with “serious but non-life-threatening” injuries, the DA’s office said. The chief was released from Berkshire Medical Center after being examined Wednesday.

All involved officers have been provided leave, and an acting police chief has been instated, according to the DA’s office. The incident remains under active investigation by Hinsdale police, Dalton police, and Massachusetts State Police.

Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy J. Shugrue will host a press conference Friday to provide further information about the altercation, the man’s identity, and the status of the involved officers, prosecutors said. Additional details are expected to come to light following an examination of ballistic evidence by State Police.