Police Officers Cleared In Deadly Bath, NH Shooting
BATH, N.H. (CBS) -- The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office says the police officers involved in a fatal shooting in Bath in early July were legally justified using deadly force.
Officials released a statement late Friday night.
Haverhill Police Officers Ryan Jarvis and Greg Collins were cleared after fatally shooting Hagen Esty-Lennon of Canterbury, N.H. shortly before 4 p.m. on July 6.
The officers were called to Route 302 toward Woodsville where they found a man suffering from what appeared to be a stab wound to the chest, officials say. They both activated their body cameras, and one of the two cruisers also had its camera on.
They told the 6-foot-1, 275-pound man to show his hands, which he initially did, officials say, but then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. He then approached the officers and did not stop despite officers repeatedly telling him to stop moving toward them.
Esty-Lennon turned and began running away from police, and one officer went after him with a stun gun while the other provided cover fire. Esty-Lennon then turned back and got within 10-to-15 feet of the officers before they shot him multiple times despite repeatedly being told to drop the knife, officials say.
He was taken to Cottage Hospital in Woodsville, N.H. where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators say an autopsy revealed that Esty-Lennon's stab wound was non-life-threatening and appeared to be self-inflicted.
A toxicology report showed that Esty-Lennon had amphetamine in his blood that was slightly higher than the therapeutic dosage, as well as a quantity of Klonopin, an anti-convulsive drug and an anti-anxiety drug.