Chelmsford Police Shooting Justified: DA

CHELMSFORD, MA — A Chelmsford police officer was justified in shooting a suspect who punched another officer in the face and shook off a Taser in July, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced Wednesday. The suspect, William Omar Santiago, 35, of Lowell, survived the shooting. Chelmsford police Officer Kristin Leary shot Santiago twice during a violent confrontation July 23 on Clover Hill Drive.

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Santiago tossed a hammer "tomahawk-style" at several officers and used a large shard of glass as a weapon, Ryan said. The officers, fearing for their safety as well as the safety of a woman in the residence, deployed a Taser but it proved ineffective, officials said. That is when Leary fired her weapon twice; one bullet hit Santiago in the leg and the other grazed his head, officials said.

"(Leary) was justified in the use of deadly force and that there was no criminal conduct involved in the shooting of William Omar Santiago," Ryan said in a statement.

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Chelmsford Police Shoot Suspect In Violent Confrontation

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