Police kill man on Piscataqua River Bridge linking New Hampshire and Maine, child and wife found dead
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - The Piscataqua River Bridge connecting New Hampshire and Maine was shut down for more than six hours Thursday after police shot and killed a man wanted for killing his wife and then found their 8-year-old son dead in his car.
Authorities said the unidentified man killed his wife at their home on Monadnock Street in Troy overnight and then drove nearly 100 miles to the bridge on Interstate 95 in Portsmouth, which is at the state line with Kittery, Maine.
Maine State Police Col. Bill Ross said the man called 911 just after 2 a.m. to report he had been involved in a fight with his wife and she was dead. Police found the man in his car in the middle of the bridge at about 2:30 a.m.
The bridge was shut down for several hours while police tried to talk to the man, but negotiations were "ultimately unsuccessful," Ross said. He said the man got out of his car and raised a gun. That's when a Maine State Police trooper and two New Hampshire State Police troopers fired at the man, killing him.
The man fell from the bridge and his body was recovered in the water by the Coast Guard, Ross said.
8-year-old boy killed
After police shot the man, law enforcement found an 8-year-old boy who had been shot to death in the backseat of the car. Ross said police were not aware there was a child in the car until then, but said the child's death is not associated with police using deadly force. He was later identified as the couple's son.
"Based on information we saw, it was very clear that the officers involved in the shooting did not fire on that child," Ross said.
Ross said the investigation is still ongoing. The family has not been identified.
"I know everyone wants to know the why, right now we're going to be focused on what happened," Ross said.
Neighbors in the tightknit community of Troy were stunned.
"I couldn't believe it happened here in Troy and that the whole family was involved it was like oh jeez that's a terrible tragedy," said neighbor Joe Nagel. "Most of the time it's pretty peaceful. It's still tragic no matter how or what the circumstances were."
Piscataqua River Bridge closed
The bridge was completely shut down around 3 a.m. New Hampshire State Police said it was reopened to traffic around 9:30 a.m.
Traffic was diverted to the two other local bridges in the area for more than six hours while the bridge was closed.
No other information is available at this point in the investigation.