Three police officers were injured during a standoff with a person with a gun in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, officials said. Officers returned fire, killing the person.
The officers are expected to survive, Boston Police Superintendent-in-Chief Gregory Long said, though some of their injuries are serious.
The suspected gunman was hit multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene, Long said. He has not been identified.
Police were called to Ferndale Street about 9:30 a.m. for a report of a person with a gun threatening others. When officers arrived, the person barricaded himself inside the building, Long said.
SWAT teams and negotiators were brought in, and the standoff continued for about five or six hours. Then, the person opened fire "unexpectedly," the superintendent-in-chief said.
The suspect's stepmother told NBC10 Boston he pulled out a gun on her and another family inside their apartment.
Police said it appears the gunman appeared to be emotionally disturbed.
"He's really not right in the head," said Julie Clarke, who says it was her son's half brother who shot police Tuesday afternoon. "He pulled out a gun on my son this morning and he told us both to leave the apartment. He was going to shoot my son in the head, he had a gun to my son's head."
It's the second time in several days that Boston police officers were injured in the line of duty, following an incident Saturday when an officer was stabbed and the suspected attacker killed.
"This highlights the dangers that the men and women of this department face every single day that they put on this uniform," Long said.
Police had earlier said that two officers were shot in the Dorchester incident.
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said her office would "conduct a very deep investigation."
She said she and the mayor had visited the officers in the hospital.
"Their wives showed up crying, their family members are terrified," Rollins said. "No one signs up for work in order to put their lives at risk and ultimately they do that every day."
Boston Mayor-elect Michelle Wu said she had been briefed on what happened, tweeting she "will be monitoring the situation closely. My prayers are with the injured officers, their loved ones & those in our community who have had to face violence & trauma in our neighborhoods in the past week."
The Boston Police Patrolmen's Association said on Twitter they were "Asking for prayers. Two of our officers transported to the hospital after being shot during confrontation with barricaded suspect."
Other law enforcement agencies around Massachusetts chimed in with support for the Boston Police Department.
The shootings happened around 3:30 p.m., on the heels of the hourslong standoff at Ferndale and Norfolk streets. SWAT vehicles and numerous police cruisers were still at the scene as of 4:30 p.m.
A witness said police began arriving at 9:30 a.m., then heard gunfire at 3:30 p.m.
The scene remained very active for several hours after the shooting. Area in a three-block radius around the scene on Ferndale Street was blocked off.
Neighbor Noreen Woods said she spent six hours at home after police told her and others in the area to shelter in place.
"I'd seen and heard police officers saying, 'Don't come outside,'" she said, adding, "I was, like, in the line of fire, had I been sitting there doing my normal routine."
