Two Fall River police officers were injured during a shootout early Sunday morning that resulted in the death of a suspect. The man shot and killed by police was later identified as 40-year-old Nigel Vaughn of Fall River.
The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office said in a joint statement with the Fall River Police Department that three officers were called to the 300 block of Linden Street after midnight in response to a report of a man in possession of a gun in a vehicle outside a home.
The officers engaged Vaughan and searched him. Police said Vaughn resisted, and during the struggle fired a gun at police, striking one officer in the elbow and a second officer in the abdomen of his bulletproof vest.
The officers returned fire, according to police, hitting Vaughn. Officers attempted to administer aid to Vaughn at the scene. He was later transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.
“This incident highlights the dangers police face in encounters with armed individuals,” Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III wrote in the joint statement. “The suspect has a violent history and the officers were just doing their job on a brutally cold night trying to protect the community.”
Police said the suspect’s gun was altered to function as if it were fully automatic, capable of firing multiple rounds with one pull of the trigger.
The two injured officers have been discharged from the hospital.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing and is being conducted by the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office. Police have not yet released the body camera footage of the incident.
