Suicide by Cop Antidepressants 21/11/2006 Massachusetts Man Shot by Police: His Antidepressants Were 'Not Effective' Summary:

Paragraph 5 reads:  "E. James Veara, the Hill family attorney, said this afternoon he would withhold comment until Hill's parents read the report later today. Hill's father, Jerry, owns the Box Lunch restaurant on Route 6 in Eastham. He is quoted as telling police that his son had been depressed and was taking anti depressants that had not been effective."

Paragraph 1 reads:  "Police were justified in using deadly force against a suicidal Eastham man who fired four shots at the Cape Cod town's police station and then confronted officers while wearing white body armor and holding a .40 caliber handgun, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe ruled today."

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2006/11/okeefe_deadly_f.html

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

O'Keefe: Deadly force justified in police shooting of Eastham man

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Police were justified in using deadly force against a suicidal Eastham man who fired four shots at the Cape Cod town's police station and then confronted officers while wearing white body armor and holding a .40 caliber handgun, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe ruled today.

During the fatal nighttime confrontation near First Encounter Beach, O'Keefe said David G. Hill was shot at least four times and that the 23-year-old was killed by a one shot that struck him in the back of the head. Hill was likely hit in the back of the head when he tried to dodge gunfire or was spun around when struck in his left side by other bullets, O'Keefe said.

O'Keefe, in a 79 page report posted on his website, identified the officer who shot Hill as Orleans Police Officer Anthony F. Manfredi, who was assisting Eastham police on the night of Oct. 17 as they tried to track Hill down.

"Officer Manfredi's actions during the confrontation with the deceased were well within the scope of the law in Massachusetts," O'Keefe wrote.

E. James Veara, the Hill family attorney, said this afternoon he would withhold comment until Hill's parents read the report later today. Hill's father, Jerry, owns the Box Lunch restaurant on Route 6 in Eastham. He is quoted as telling police that his son had been depressed and was taking anti depressants that had not been effective.

According to O'Keefe and court records, Hill tried to commit suicide in July, triggering a response by the regional SWAT team. Hill underwent a 30 day court-ordered alcohol abuse treatment plan and was due back in court Oct. 30.

O'Keefe said in he report that Manfredi fired nine rounds from his .223 caliber AR-15 rifle at Hill, who had escaped a police dragnet around his family home on Sue's Walk and was crawling through the woods near the intersections of Samoset and Herringbrook roads when Manfredi spotted him.

O'Keefe said Manfredi ordered Hill to drop his weapon. Hill refused and instead pointed his handgun toward the officer. Manfredi fired several rounds that knocked Hill to the ground. When Hill again pointed the handgun at him, Manfredi fired a second time.

In the report, O'Keefe said Hill's mother and uncle, identified as Mansfield Police Officer Rich Hopkins, spoke with Eastham police that night and alerted them that Hill had fired on the police station and that was he suicidal. "He's really out of his mind," his mother, Martha Hill told police, according to transcript of her 911 call. "He really wants you to kill him."

Hill's father, who was with his son for a portion of the evening in their home, is quoted as telling police after the shooting, "well, he got what he wanted, he couldn't do it himself so he got the cops to do it."

Police said Hill paid $550 for the handgun he purchased at Hussey's General Store in Windsor, Maine on Sept. 26, 2006.
Posted by the Boston Globe City & Region Desk at 02:24 PM