Police: Suspect In Cambridge Police Officer Shooting Commits Suicide At NH Inn
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (CBS) – A man who started a tense standoff at a Portsmouth, New Hampshire motel committed suicide Friday night, according to police.
Friday night police identified the man as Nicholas Cammarata, 30, of Saugus.
They received information from Cambridge police that an armed suspect may be at America's Best Inn who was wanted for firing shots at a Cambridge officer early Friday morning.
SWAT teams and Portsmouth police evacuated the motel, shutdown roads in the area as a precaution and sent out a "code red" to nearby residents to shelter in place.
"I was just told there was someone in a room and it was a bad situation. It was scary because you didn't know how much was involved," said Deborah Clements, a hotel guest.
In room 101, police say they found their armed suspect when he looked out a window.
Cambridge police had provided a photo of the man to help in his capture.
"We made a call into the subject's room and made contact with him briefly," said Portsmouth police chief Stephen DuBois. "That's when police say he tried to make a run for it out a back window.
"When he tried to make it out he was met by a couple of officers who challenged him."
Shortly thereafter, police heard a gunshot, DuBois said.
Police didn't know if it was aimed at them, so they exploded a diversionary device to see if there was movement in the room.
Then, they deployed a robot inside for safety and confirmed it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Cambridge police say they believe it's the suspect who ran from an attempted robbery and fired at an officer who was chasing him, though the officer wasn't injured.
DuBois says the suspect checked into the motel using a false name and never threatened any guests. Police say there were several warrants out for his arrest for violent assaults.