Guy Was Coming 'Full Sprint' With a Sword. Cop Shot Him

23-year-old suspect is in the hospital
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 17, 2023 1:28 PM CDT
Cop Shoots Guy Charging 'Full Sprint' With a Sword
File photo of a Massachusetts police cruiser and officer.   (AP Photo/Michelle R. Smith)

A man shot by police in Massachusetts last weekend was holding a sword over his head and running at an officer at a “full sprint,” police tell the AP. The 23-year-old man, whom NBC Boston identifies as Shawn O'Connell, faces attempted murder and other charges in connection with the encounter in Oxford at about 6am Sunday, police Chief Anthony Saad said in a statement Tuesday. The officer was in a marked cruiser but was not responding to a call when the suspect, on foot, abruptly entered the roadway and blocked the vehicle, Saad said. The suspect, an Oxford resident, advanced on the cruiser while swinging the sword, so the officer put his vehicle into reverse “to create distance between him and the defendant," Saad said.

When the officer could not back up any farther due to traffic, he stepped 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 when the man got close enough to strike. He called for an ambulance and administered first aid in the six minutes it took for medics to arrive, per NBC Boston. The suspect remains hospitalized, the chief said. Police did not release his condition. The officer, whose name was not made public, was not hurt and was put on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. No arraignment date has been scheduled.

(More sword stories.)

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