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Witnesses: Beverly Police Officer Said Shooter Had 'Reasons' To Target Him

BOSTON (CBS) – A spokeswoman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett says the motive in the shooting of a Beverly police officer is not relevant to any criminal prosecution because the gunman is dead.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz reports

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Beverly police officer Jason Lantych was shot several times by Hamilton police Sgt. Kenneth Nagy in a Starbucks parking lot Friday after they had agreed to meet there.

Both were off-duty.

Nagy, 44, left the scene, returned later and then shot and killed himself.

WBZ-TV's Joe Shortsleeve reports

Lantych, 35, is recovering, but Beverly police said he has a long way to go.

Investigators have not said why the men met Friday.

Witnesses told WBZ-TV Monday that moments after the shooting, Lantych said Nagy had "a couple reasons" for shooting him.

Carrie Kimball Monahan, a spokeswoman for Blodgett, told WBZ-TV's Joe Shortsleeve Monday the motive for the shooting is not relevant to any criminal prosecution because they can't be sure what Nagy's state of mind was at the time and they can't question him or prosecute him.

"The motive for the shooting is of course relevant to the broader investigation by the Massachusetts State Police, the Hamilton and Beverly Police Departments, and this Office. That investigation remains ongoing and includes inquiry into any and all criminal activity surrounding the incident, though none has been revealed apart from the shooting itself," Monahan later said in a statement Monday afternoon.

Nagy's wife works with the Beverly Police Department's domestic violence unit.

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