The Suffolk District Attorney’s Office is investigating an incident involving a man who was shot and killed by police in Brighton early Friday morning after he lunged at officers with a knife.
Officers responded to Selkirk Road after receiving a report of a man being armed with a large knife and threatening to harm himself, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said during a press conference.
Cox said the officers were notified about a mental health crisis before arriving on the scene. Upon arrival, officers engaged the suspect, who was holding a knife, for nearly 20 minutes outside of the residence trying to de-escalate the situation.
“As officers continued to try to de-escalate the event, the suspect no longer presented a threat to himself by taking the knife away from himself and now charged the officers, threatening to harm them,” Cox said.
As the suspect chased the officer, he was shot once in the stomach, Cox continued.
“They retreated as much as they could, until they couldn’t,” he said of the officers.
Officers and EMS immediately offered aid before the man was taken to the hospital in critical condition and later died Friday afternoon.
Police did not release the name of the man who was killed.
“Part of the investigation is always looking at all of the officers who were there and all of the equipment they had,” Cox said. “But initially there were certainly officers who had other, less-lethal equipment on scene at the time.”
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said his office would lead the investigation with the Boston Police Department and review what happened, including reviewing body-camera footage.
Hayden also vowed to “conduct a complete and thorough investigation of all the facts and circumstances around this incident.”
“These situations are always fluid, they’re never easy,” Hayden said during the press conference.
Mayor Michelle Wu’s Office and the Boston Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
