An officer's use of deadly force during a struggle with a domestic violence suspect in Fall River was ruled justified, according to the investigative report released by the Bristol County District Attorney's office.
Anthony Harden, 30, was shot to death by police at his home on Melville Street on November 22, 2021.
District Attorney Thomas Quinn extended his sympathies to Harden's family, which has been asking for answers. In February, Harden's family filed a lawsuit against the Bristol County District Attorney's Office that claimed they had not seen evidence in the case, according to NBC10 Boston affiliate WJAR.
According to the newly released investigative report, the interaction with harden started when officers took a report from a woman on Lowell Street who claimed that Harden hit her in the face during an argument two days before. Harden was wearing a GPS monitoring bracelet and was already awaiting trial on domestic violence and reckless endangerment of a child charges for a previous incident with another woman, according to the DA.
Officers responded to Harden's home to speak with him. The DA's report states that when officers arrived to speak with Harden, they noted that his "emotional state was escalating." When officers tried to arrest him, he allegedly attacked one of the officers with a knife. After a brief struggle, the officer's partner shot Harden twice with her service weapon.
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Harden was rushed to St. Anne's Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
The report notes that Harden had a past history of accusations of violence, including a standoff with police where Harden allegedly made threats to police, threats to harm a young infant, and made statements about committing suicide.
"The Fall River Police Officer's use of force was consistent with the Fall River Police Department's internal policy regarding the use of forced and consistent with the laws of self-defense and/or defense of others," the report reads. "Due to the sudden and violent nature of Mr. harden's unprovoked attack, de-escalation tactics were not feasible based on all the circumstances. The use of force was not excessive because two shots were reasonable under the circumstances to prevent the officer from suffering serious bodily injury and/or death."
SUICIDE PREVENTION HELP: Here is information on suicide prevention from the National Institute of Mental Health. If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘Home’ to 741741.
