Global Courant 2023-05-17 18:49:57
Massachusetts police say a cop shot a man who ran at him in full sprint with a sword over his head
OXFORD, Mass. — A man shot by police in Massachusetts over the weekend held a sword over his head and ran toward an officer in a “full sprint,” police said.
The 23-year-old man is suspected of attempted murder and other charges in connection with the encounter in Oxford at about 6am on Sunday, police chief Anthony Saad said in a statement on Tuesday.
The officer was in a marked cruiser but did not respond to a call when the suspect on foot abruptly entered the roadway and blocked the vehicle, Saad said.
The suspect, an Oxford resident, approached the cruiser brandishing the sword, so the officer put his vehicle in reverse “to put some distance between him and the defendant,” Saad said.
When traffic prevented the officer from backing up further, he got out of the cruiser and ordered the suspect to drop the sword.
The suspect “then began a full sprint towards the officer with the sword over his head,” the statement said. The officer again ordered the suspect to stop before opening fire as the man got close enough to strike.
The suspect remains in hospital, the chief said. Police have not released his condition.
The officer, whose name was not made public, was not injured and was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
No subpoena is scheduled. It could not be immediately determined whether he had a lawyer.
Oxford is about 45 miles west of Boston.
