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Fall River Police Chief Defends Fatal Shooting of Armed Suspect, Citing Training and Bodycam Footage
Fall River Police Chief J.T. Hoar said officers acted exactly as trained when they shot and killed 40-year-old Nigel Vaughn in February after Vaughn fired at them first. The Bristol County District Attorney's Office ruled the use of force justified, and newly released bodycam footage shows more than 20 shots were fired.
FALL RIVER, Mass. â Fall River Police Chief J.T. Hoar on Friday defended the actions of two officers who shot and killed an armed suspect in February, saying they responded exactly as they were trained when the man opened fire on them during a pat-down.
The suspect, 40-year-old Nigel Vaughn, was killed after he fired at officers on Linden Street on Feb. 8, according to police. Body-worn camera footage obtained through a public records request shows more than 20 shots were exchanged during the encounter.
"I think ultimately, in our training, we move to stop the threat," Hoar said in an interview. "You can actually see him racking the slide of the firearm to have it live and then fire several rounds."
The incident began when officers were called to Linden Street for reports of a man with a weapon. According to police, Vaughn attempted to run away from a pat-down and then fired at officers first. Officers returned fire.
Hoar said Vaughn was armed with a handgun equipped with a switch, a device that allows a semi-automatic firearm to fire like a machine gun. "That is a serious amount of firepower that that suspect had," he said.
One officer was struck in the elbow, and another was hit in their bullet-resistant vest. Both survived. "That is crystal clear that he is presenting deadly force toward those officers and they did what they needed to do to go home safely that night," Hoar said.
The Bristol County District Attorney's Office conducted a months-long investigation and determined that the officers' use of force was justified. The officers involved were placed on critical incident leave; one has since returned to duty, and the other is expected back shortly, according to Hoar.
Fall River police initially withheld the bodycam video, citing the ongoing investigation. The footage was released after a request for state review.
Vaughn had a prior criminal history, including a conviction and sentence in a 2005 triple shooting, but was released early. Hoar said he does not believe Vaughn should have been out of prison. "I think he demonstrated in that particular incident that he wasn't capable of being in the public," Hoar said. "He's released out and what is the first thing he does? He goes back to what he knows."
The shooting has raised questions in the community about the use of force and the release of bodycam footage. The district attorney's finding of justification closes the criminal review, but the incident continues to draw attention to how police encounters are documented and reviewed.