Police Officer Shot During Domestic Incident In Weare: Report

WEARE, NH — New Hampshire State Police, Weare police, and other police and fire units are on Buckley Road in Weare where an officer, William Lewis, 27, was shot Thursday. State police released an alert at 5:18 a.m. warning that the road would be closed for "most of the morning hours." NBC 10 out of Boston reported on Twitter about an hour later that a police officer was shot in the arm and a person was barricaded in a home.

Lewis was reported in stable condition and good spirits, the station reported.

That man was later identified as Jeffrey Clough-Garvin, 43, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office.

Around 1:30 a.m., Weare police and fire and rescue teams were called to the road, not far from the All Seasons Campground, for a report of a domestic incident involving an injured man. Clough-Garvin was reportedly having a mental health incident, had consumed large quantities of Xanax, and was in possession of a firearm, dispatchers stated. Police were tipped off about the incident by a relative in another community.

UPDATE: First pictures from SkyRanger over a Weare, NH police officer was shot. Police telling people to shelter in place as they deal with a barricaded subject. @NBC10Boston pic.twitter.com/pHaMGJXrFM
— Daniel Gadbois (@DanNBCBoston) August" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/DanNBCBost... 1, 2019

Later in the call, dispatch reported that the Clough-Garvin was attempting to get a woman in the home to shoot him.

Police arrived at the scene, staged, and approached the home at around 1:45 a.m. when shots were fired at them, according to officers.

"One at gun point, one at gun point," a first officer stated. "205, 205, shots fired, shots fired … officer down."

"Units stay back," another officer stated.

The first officer reported to dispatch and other officers that the suspect fired upon them but they had the woman and she was safe. One officer stated the shots sounded as if they came from a shotgun. At least one Weare officer discharged a firearm during the incident, according to Kate Spiner, the director of communications for the NH AG's Office.

More ambulances were requested to the area as well as other law enforcement agencies, including state troopers and police from Bow, Concord, Hillsboro and other communities. Officers put a tourniquet on the officer's arm to stop the bleeding while waiting for EMTs from New Boston to arrive. One officer informed dispatch that the officer was hit twice in the arm.

Radio and navigation difficulties between dispatchers and an out-of-town ambulance trying to get to the staging area hampered the transport for a short period of time, according to dispatch. Eventually, the officer was transported from Weare to Concord Hospital and arrived at just before 2:30 a.m.

Firefighters were asked to come to the scene with the department's infrared cameras to track the man inside of the home.

As of 8:15 a.m., state police said the man remained barricaded in his home, WMUR stated on Twitter. A shelter-in-place alert was sent by phone to local residents.

Just before 9 a.m., WMUR reported that the situation was under control, officials stated, and the shelter-in-place was lifted.

Clough-Garvin, Spiner said, was found deceased inside the home at just past 8:30 a.m. An autopsy is scheduled to be performed Friday.

"Pursuant to protocol, the name of the second Weare Police Officer is being withheld at this time pending the officer’s interview," she said. "The interview will take place as soon as possible. The Weare Police Officers wore body cameras and it appears at this time that the cameras were operational and the images of this event were captured."

A free, 24/7 confidential service is available that can provide people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress, or those around them, with support, information, and local resources. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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