Man dies, two police officers injured in Fall River shooting

Police shot and killed a man after they say he fired at and injured two officers early Sunday morning in Fall River.

Police responded to a call about a man with a firearm in a vehicle on Linden Street at 12:13 a.m. Sunday, according to a statement from the Bristol County District Attorney's office and Fall River Police Department.

Officers found 40-year-old Nigel Vaughn outside the address. While police were performing a pat frisk, Vaughn "began to violently resist," officials said. While on the ground, he fired his weapon at police. He struck one officer in the elbow, and another, who was wearing a bullet resistant vest, in the abdomen.

Police, including a third officer on the scene, returned fire. Vaughn was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived to the hospital, according to the statement. The injured officers were treated and released.

"We are deeply grateful that our officers are able to return home to their families tonight," Police Chief Kelly Furtado said in the statement Sunday morning.

The Fall River Police Department released screenshots from body camera footage apparently showing Vaughn firing his weapon. The full video was not released.

Officers said they found a Glock firearm with an aftermarket modification called a "switch" that allows the gun to fire multiple rounds with one trigger pull.

Not long before the shooting, police had interacted with Vaughn at Knight's Gas Station nearby, where a call reported reckless driving and a possible physical altercation, the statement said. They found Vaughn in an SUV with two other people. Officers told them to leave the lot.

"The suspect has a violent history and the officers were just doing their job on a brutally cold night trying to protect the community," District Attorney Tom Quinn said in the statement. "Through the grace of God all of the officers lives were spared. I am grateful for their service and professionalism under the most difficult of circumstances."

The Fall River Herald News reported Vaughn served time in state prison for shooting three people in a sports bar in April 2005, and was indicted for a shooting at a nightclub the same year.