Fall River police standoff death ruled suicide by medical examiner
The death of a Fall River man involved in a shooting with police in July was ruled a suicide by the state's Chief Medical Examiner's Office, officials said on Wednesday afternoon.
An investigation by the Massachusetts State Police found that the man, 38-year-old Domonick Knight, fired his gun first at police who were involved in an hours-long standoff at his home on July 15, according to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn's Office.
An autopsy determined that Knight died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The investigation remains ongoing, and no other details were released by the district attorney on Wednesday.
Officials said at the time that Knight was experiencing a mental health crisis, and body camera footage released by Fall River police showed the incident.
Knight shot at officers from the top of a set of stairs less than 30 seconds after police entered his home through the front door. Rapid gunfire was exchanged, and within minutes, police could be seen finding him on the floor on the second-floor landing and heard calling for medical aid.
Fall River police responded to a duplex at 117 Langley St. shortly before 1:40 a.m. after receiving multiple 911 calls from Knight's relatives reporting that he was experiencing a mental health crisis, authorities said. His relatives said he was expressing intent to harm himself and had a gun.
After arriving at the home, officers secured the scene and evacuated the home's other residents, as well as those living on the other side of the duplex, police said. A trained crisis negotiator arrived at the scene around 2:25 a.m. and repeatedly tried to communicate with Knight via phone, text and a loudspeaker, but he did not respond.
After nearly an hour of unsuccessful attempts to communicate with Knight, officers decided to enter the home to try to speak with him, police said. Fall River police's Emergency Services Unit went into the home via the front door around 3:15 a.m. and quickly noticed movement at the top of the stairs.
As officers stood in the doorway, Knight began shooting at them from the second-floor landing, police said. Officers then fired back at him from the entryway while moving out of the way of the gunfire.
Body camera footage showed police yelling at Knight to come down the stairs before deciding to use a flash-bang when he did not respond. Police then yelled at him, telling him not to move while climbing the stairs.
Officers can be seen finding Knight lying on the floor of the landing with a handgun in his hand and a short-barreled rifle underneath him. They can be heard quickly calling for medical services as they put him in handcuffs.
Knight was rushed to a local hospital, where he was later declared dead.
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