Officer Who Shot And Killed Winchester Man 'Was Justified': DA

Winchester MA

04 February, 2022

1:57 PM

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WINCHESTER, MA —An investigation involving a fatal officer-involved shooting in Winchester in 2020 has been closed, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said Thursday. "The fatal shooting of Thomas P. Celona on November 2, 2020, was justified and does not constitute a criminal act," Ryan said following an inquest, adding that a certificate of no prosecution has been filed with the Court. Just after 8 p.m. on Nov. 2, 2020, a security guard at the Parkview Apartments on Swanton Street called police to relay that a resident in the building had reported an "issue within his unit." Three officers arrived at Celona's apartment claiming they heard noises coming from inside, but did not see any signs of forced entry. Once they got inside, police said they found the man brandishing two knives. Police told Celona to drop the knives, before using a Taser gun on him twice, which was still unsuccessful in getting him to stop, officials said. When Celona continued, approaching the officers with the knives still in hand, police say one Winchester officer fired his gun, hitting him. The officers immediately gave him first aid, and Celona was taken to a nearby hospital but did not survive his injuries, Ryan said. The three officers were placed on paid administrative leave, per the policy of their department. During the course of the inquest, the court heard testimony from 10 witnesses and reviewed numerous exhibits. "The tragic death of Thomas P. Celona resulted from a lethal confluence of factors: a longstanding mental illness that had recently gone untreated; the mixing of prescribed and illicit drugs; the possession and threatened use of dangerous weapons; and a cramped, unforgiving locus," Justice Peter F. Doyle said. "The court finds that when Winchester Officer Jeffrey LaTores fired his weapon, a reasonable law enforcement officer in the same position would reasonably believe that he and his fellow officers as well as others, were in imminent danger of being seriously injured or killed." "No reasonable alternative existed, except for the use of deadly force upon Celona," Justice Doyle added. In 2018, to ensure a complete and unbiased review of fatal-officer-involved shootings, Ryan started a policy of requesting inquests for all incidents in that category.