Greenland, N.H., shooter and woman found dead; police chief was killed, four other officers wounded in raid on home
Greenland resident Tammy Hardy described her experience after Police Chief Michael Maloney was killed and four other officers were injured in a drug raid.
GREENLAND, N.H. – The man who killed this small town’s police chief and wounded four other officers was found dead inside his home early today, along with a woman who was inside the building when the officers were met by a barrage of gunfire when they tried to execute a drug warrant.
New Hampshire Attorney General Michael Delaney told reporters at a pre-dawn press conference that State Police sent a robot with a camera inside the home on Post Road around 2 a.m. Police then discovered that both people were dead, both apparently shot to death.
Delaney identified the man as Cullen Mutrie, 29. He said the identity of the woman had not been confirmed, but that she is believed to be an acquaintance of Mutrie’s.
It was not yet known whether Mutrie and the woman died as the result of a murder-suicide or a double suicide, he said.
Greenland Police Chief Michael P. Maloney (Greenland Police website)xx
Killed in the shootings was Police Chief Michael Maloney, 48, who was one week from his retirement after 12 years on the force, Delaney said. An autopsy found that Maloney was shot in the head, the attorney general’s office said this afternoon in a statement.
State Police, along with federal agents, “continue to process the crime scene and investigate the circumstances surrounding Chief Maloney’s murder’’ and the injuries to the other officers, the statement said.
Autopsies were to be performed on Saturday on Mutrie and the woman. The statement said authorities would release no further information until after the autopsies were completed.
Injured in the shootings were Detective Gregory Turner of the Dover police, 32, a six-year-veteran who was treated and released from the Portsmouth Regional Hospital for a gunshot wound to the shoulder; Officer Eric Kulberg, 31, a seven-year veteran of the University of New Hampshire police, who was treated and released for a single gunshot wound to the arm; Officer Scott Kukesh, 33, a 10-year veteran of the Newmarket police, who went into surgery with a gunshot wound to his chest; and Officer Jeremiah Murphy, 34, a seven-year veteran of the Rochester police who was in intensive care after surgery.
“The law enforcement community in New Hampshire is certainly grieving this morning,’’ Delaney said. “But they have come together — federal, state, and local agencies — to do the job that law enforcement officers do every day, to secure the safety and protection of our citizens, and I’m proud of the work they have done during the past day.’’
Delaney said that while police believe Mutrie fatally shot the chief, he would only say that he was “involved’’ in the shootings of the other four officers.
He refused to say if Mutrie was believed to be the lone shooter, and he did not say what type of firearm was used.
He said negotiators made contact with Mutrie shortly after the shootings of the officers, but he declined to provide details on what Mutrie said.
Authorities decided to send a robot into the home at about 2 a.m. after losing contact with Mutrie for several hours, according to Delaney.
Maloney was assisting the other officers — who are part of a special drug task force — on the raid, Delaney said.
He would not say if they were wearing any protective gear.
Delaney said there were no changes in any of the surviving officers’ conditions this morning.
He said he could not recall a prior incident in New Hampshire where a police chief was killed and four other officers were shot.
Karen Anderson, town administrator, said the outbreak of violence and the death of the small town’s police chief had devastated the community.
“It’s a crisis for the town. It’s devastating. … Right now our only thought is with Chief Maloney and his family.’’
The town’s sole elementary school is closed today.
Neighbor Tammy Hardy said she lived across the street from Mutrie and saw him “in and out of the house with him and his friends and stuff’’ but did not know him personally.
Asked if she could ever imagine him doing what he did, she said, “No, not at all. You never think that in this town, anyways, because you know pretty much everybody around.’’ She said she and her two daughters were ordered to stay in their basement overnight.
“That’s where we stayed all night last night was in the basement,’’ she said.
She said it was “scary because we didn’t know what was going on.’’ “So I had to keep sneaking upstairs to see what was going on.’’
“I just needed to be up for my kids, just so I know the safety. If they were to bombard the house, if there was going to be any more gunfire, or if he were to escape the house and be on the loose, I just needed to be awake for that,’’ she said.
