Webster, Massachusetts, police officers responding to a domestic disturbance fatally shot a man early Friday who fired on them first with a shotgun, Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said.
Neil Seifert, 40, of Charlton, fired two rounds from the double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun just before 1 a.m., narrowly missing the officers.
The officers returned fire after Seifert ignored warnings to drop his weapon.
He was pronounced dead at the hospital at about 1:45 a.m.
Two officers have been placed on administrative leave, per protocol. Their names were not made public.
The chain of events started at about 10 p.m. Thursday when police responded to a Main Street address after a woman called 911 and said she had been attacked by Seifert and he had taken her car, Early said.
Seifert, who has an extensive record, and the woman had a long-term on-and-off relationship and she had taken out restraining orders out against him, the district attorney said.
Seifert returned to his Charlton home and took a shotgun after a struggle with his stepfather.
He was spotted by state police on Interstate 395 in Webster, but refused to pull over. That's when he returned to the woman's home in Webster, in south-central Massachusetts on the border with Connecticut.
"He went back with the double-barreled shotgun to where the original confrontation had occurred," said Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. "There was nothing easy about this case. Both projectiles narrowly missed hitting both Webster police officers from a double barreled shotgun."
Neighbors recalled the harrowing chain of events.
"And the shots were close because everything echoes. You couldn't tell really how close they were it sounded like they were right in the backyard. It was like ‘get away from the window’ you know, you don't know," said neighbor Kathleen Banks.
"All of a sudden we could hear them screaming and then, down get down get down and then, boom boom boom boom boom," said neighbor Tammy Comptois.
The death remains under investigation.
Neighbors say Seifert had been struggling with drugs and was distraught about recently losing his father.
