A Burlington Police officer was cleared of wrongdoing when she shot a person to loss of life as he allegedly ran at her with a knife in hand final yr.
Burlington Police Officer Aurise Miedico underwent a three-day inquest into her killing of Paul Courtemanche, 42, on Jan. 23, 2022.
Woburn District Court Judge Shelby M. Smith heard testimony from 10 witnesses and reviewed 60 displays throughout the inquest starting Jan. 11 earlier than discovering that “a reasonable, prudent person would not find that the actions of Officer Miedico make her criminally responsible for the tragic death of Mr. Courtemanche, or that she is otherwise criminally responsible.”
Courtemanche, 42, known as 911 from a Burlington house constructing barely after midday that day and instructed police that he had a knife and was having some points. He would stay on the telephone at the same time as Burlington firefighters and police Officers Robert Reyes and Aurise Miedico had been dispatched to the constructing. The name was labeled a “Q5,” which means “a subject is making threats or attempts at suicide.”
The officers staged outdoors Lord Baron Apartments on Baron Park Lane as they awaited backup.
Courtemanche, draped in a blanket and wielding a roughly 8- to 10-inch kitchen knife over his head, allegedly ran out of the constructing and towards the officers. Both officers ordered him to cease and drop the knife, however the inquest report says he ignored the calls for. Miedico then fired a “less-lethal” spherical at Courtemanche, however that didn’t cease his fast advance.
Miedico backed up as Courtemanche superior, however she tripped and Courtemanche loomed over her with a knife. It was at this second, in line with the inquest’s findings, that Miedico fired her service pistol twice, placing Courtemanche within the leg and the attention, killing him.
“Any reasonable law enforcement officer in the same position would reasonably believe that she was in imminent danger of being seriously injured or killed. At that moment no reasonable alternative existed, except for the use of deadly force,” Judge Smith wrote in her report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”