Spencer Police Officer Shoots, Kills Man Armed With Pellet Gun

SPENCER (CBS) — A Spencer police officer has been placed on administrative leave after he shot and killed a man who was carrying a replica handgun.

Officer Brandon Fullam was called to a home on Northwest Road Sunday around 8 p.m. for a domestic complaint.  The man involved, 49-year-old Walter Lynde of East Brookfield, had just left.  A short time later, Fullam spotted Lynde's vehicle and tried to stop it, but Lynde sped off.

"A chase ensued with the suspect's vehicle reaching speeds of 80 miles per hour," the Worcester County District Attorney's Office said in a statement Monday.

Then Lynde went back to the home on Northwest Road.

When he got out of his vehicle, he pointed what Officer Fullam thought was a firearm in his direction, Spencer Police said in a Facebook statement.

Fullam ordered Lynde to stop and drop the gun.

"The officer fired one shot and the suspect collapsed before reaching the home," the district attorney 's office said.

Lynde was rushed to UMass Medical Center in Worcester where he died.

According to the District Attorney's Office, investigators found a replica handgun near Lynde after the shooting.

Spencer police described it as a pellet pistol and a released a photo of the weapon.

A white van was towed from the scene early Monday morning.

Fullam has been a police officer for six years, according to the D.A., but has spent just the last year with the Spencer Police.

No other information is available at this point in the investigation.

"It's a pretty quiet street.  I mean we don't know much about anybody on this street," resident Shane Sweeney told WBZ-TV and WBZ NewsRadio 1030.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports

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• Shooting