Armed robbery suspect who stole police cruiser dies after being shot in standoff, authorities say

QUINCY, Mass. — A man suspected of robbing a convenience store and stealing a police cruiser in Massachusetts on Friday morning has died after being shot by authorities, according to WFXT-TV.

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Rockland police were called Friday morning to a report of an armed robbery at the 7-Eleven on Market Street. Surveillance footage showed the suspect, identified only as a 36-year-old man pending notification of his next of kin, approach two women working inside the store before taking a handgun out of his waistband, police Chief John Llewellyn said.

“(He) pointed the gun at one of them and informed them that they were being robbed,” Llewellyn said Friday at a news conference. “He left with approximately $334.”

Police flooded the area after getting a 911 call about the robbery around 7 a.m., according to Llewellyn and Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey. Llewellyn said an officer who was able to corner the suspect drew his service revolver and pointed it at the man, demanding he surrender.

“He refused to comply with the commands, and in fact put his arms up and challenged the officer to shoot him and walked at the officer,” Llewellyn said. The officer, a veteran of the police department, holstered his gun and attempted to use a Taser gun on the suspect. The suspect had on a thick sweatshirt that made the stun gun ineffective and a foot pursuit ensued behind a set of houses in Rockland.

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“That officer was obviously a little distraught at that point,” Llewellyn said. “Rather than running directly back to his car, he pursued (the suspect) around the house. In hindsight, maybe the wrong angle to take.”

As officers attempted to follow the suspect, he ran back to the street, where he was able to get into a police cruiser. Officers pointed their service weapons at the suspect through the front of the vehicle in an attempt to stop him.

“He backed up for about 12 feet, put (the cruiser) in drive and then sped towards the officers,” Llewellyn said. The officers were able to dodge the vehicle and no injuries were reported.

“He fled the scene towards Weymouth and Abington and made his way onto Route 18,” Morrissey said Friday. “During that chase, the suspect struck a number of police cruisers of local departments.”

Massachusetts State Police joined the pursuit as the suspect drove the police cruiser onto the Burgin Parkway exit ramp, officials said. He stopped for about an hour, during which time state police negotiators attempted to convince the man to surrender.

“It appears the vehicle may have come to a stop -- I don’t know whether it’s mechanical or not -- but they had tried to convince him numerous times” to surrender, Morrissey said.

The suspect eventually re-started the police cruiser and drove down Burgin Parkway, where authorities had laid down stop sticks to keep him from escaping. Morrissey said two armored police vehicles, one from Massachusetts State Police and the other from the Quincy Police Department, were able to pin the stolen police cruiser between them while the suspect was still in the car. Negotiators again tried to convince the man to surrender, the district attorney said.

“During the verbal negotiations, the police observed the suspect in control of a police patrol rifle,” Morrissey said. “Despite numerous requests to surrender, the suspect started to come out of the passenger door armed with the patrol rifle.”

Officials said a state police officer shot the suspect as he was coming out of the car.

Medics on the scene treated the man, who was taken to Boston Medical Center. Morrissey said he was pronounced dead at 10:15 a.m.

“We were concerned as to how he got the rifle out of the secure mount … between the two seats,” Llewellyn said. “There is a way for our officers to quickly access those weapons. Fortunately, he didn’t figure out that way to do it. But because he had almost three hours in that vehicle, he was able to bend the metal brackets and able to work that rifle out.”

Two police officers, one from Abington and a second from Weymouth, were injured in crashes during the chase. Llewellyn said Friday afternoon that both officers were doing well after the incident.

Authorities continue to investigate.

Cox Media Group