CONCORD, N.H. —
State investigators said Tuesday that a fatal police shooting in Thornton last year was justified.
Officials from the New Hampshire attorney general's office said Thornton police Officer Matthew Yao was justified in using deadly force when he shot and killed 37-year-old Ethan Freeman in October 2020.
"All of the other evidence gathered from the investigation supports the conclusion that Officer Yao did reasonably believe that he faced the imminent use of deadly physical force from Mr. Freeman at the time that the officer fired his pistol," said Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinkley.
At a briefing on Tuesday, officials displayed body camera video from Yao that captured three interactions between him and Freeman that day, including the fatal encounter at Freeman's apartment.
Officials said the body cam was critical in the case because they were able to match what the officer said to investigators with what was actually seen on the video.
At the apartment, officials said, Yao encountered a naked, bloody and irrational Freeman who, while inside, was holding a broken piece of furniture. In the video, Freeman threatens to kill Yao, jumps out a window and, while unarmed, advances on him.
"Officer Yao believed that when Mr. Freeman, who he heard had threatened his life, ultimately reached him, he would attempt to take his gun and shoot him," Hinckley said.
Slavshit
Sandshit
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This officer was so chill. This is textbook verbal de-escalation, making things interpersonal by using the suspects name, and being approachable when talking to them instead of confrontational. Unfortunately, there was nothing to stop what this suspect intended on doing in this moment. Unfortunately he lost his life most likely due to drugs fucking up his decision making causing harm to himself. Officer Yao did everything he could to deescalate the situation and still is an example for how an officer should conduct himself.
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every other cop in the world could have taken this man down without incident. but americans just murder them instead
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Lol I don't know if you've ever left whatever gated community you live in, but in most of Europe the cops just wouldn't show up for this. Petty crime like this is basically legal because lone officers can't defend themselves if the guy turns dangerous and they don't have the numbers to send out more than one for stuff like this.
https://old.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/17jrhmc/too_dangerous_for_police_to_take_on_bike_theft
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