Police Chief Says Fatal Shooting Was Tragedy for All Involved

Danvers Police Chief Neil Ouellette says he's pleased to see his officers' actions vindicated under scrutiny from the district attorney's office on last month's fatal shooting at the Avalon apartment complex.

Scott Kehoe, 37, of Danvers, was shot and killed in an armed confrontation with several officers outside the complex on Kirkbride Drive.

Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett released a detailed report on the review of the incident Friday afternoon, finding no fault with the officers and saying there was no question the officers were in danger of being fatally stabbed or seriously injured by Kehoe.

Ouellette then released a press statement Friday night in response to the findings of the report.

"The department believed that our officers were justified in deploying lethal force and expected that the DA would also find that our officers acted within their legal right to protect themselves and the community," Ouellette said.

He said his officers take the consideration of using lethal force with citizens very seriously and "exhibit great restraint in deploying force against civilians." According to the DA's review, officers gave Kehoe numerous chances to surrender peacefully even after he threatened officers with a steak knife.

Ouellette also noted there were only eight instances out of 708 arrests last year where force was used -- just over 1 percent of the time -- and most of the time that involved using non-lethal spray.

"This incident was clearly a tragedy for all of the people involved, including the officers, their families and the family of Scott Kehoe," he said. "This department would like to express our condolences to the families affected by this tragedy and ask that you respect the privacy of the involved officers at this time."