Keene, n.h.
The report, released on Wednesday, is preliminary, because criminal charges may be brought against the man, Patrick Letendre, 28, the Attorney General’s Office said.
Cheshire County Attorney D. Chris McLaughlin said on Wednesday afternoon his office had not yet decided whether to file charges and was awaiting the report file from Keene police.
Keene Police Sgt. Christopher Simonds and officers Mark Cotton and Matthew Bomberg were called to 40 Wilford St. around 2:15 p.m. on July 10 by Letendre’s girlfriend, who was moving out of his apartment with her 3-year-old daughter, according to the report. The girlfriend said she wanted police assistance in leaving.
The report says police separated Letendre from his girlfriend and her daughter and remained in the apartment while she packed. Letendre was compliant at first, but then became increasingly agitated, according to the report, eventually pulling out a pistol and pointing it at his own head. Simonds drew his own weapon and told Letendre to drop his.
After seeing Simonds draw his gun, Cotton drew his own gun and pointed it toward the apartment’s entrance, the report says. The two officers repeatedly told Letendre to drop his gun.
When he instead moved to point the gun toward the officers, Simonds and Cotton each fired two shots at him. Bomberg, who was outside at the time, was making his way back into the apartment when the shots rang out, according to the report. He did not fire his gun.
Letendre suffered a single gunshot wound and was taken to the hospital, the report says. The bullet entered Letendre’s front lower torso and exited near his buttocks.
“… The decision to use deadly force was reasonable,” the report says.