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Subscribe to RSSBEVERLY, Mass. -- An off-duty police sergeant shot a police officer from a nearby town in Northeastern Massachusetts Friday night, then returned to the scene and killed himself as authorities closed in, the local district attorney said.
Authorities responded to a Starbucks in Beverly after a 911 call at about 5:45 p.m. ET Friday and found Beverly police Officer Jason Lantych shot multiple times, Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said. Lantych is in serious condition and undergoing surgery, he said.
Off-duty Hamilton police Sgt. Ken Nagy shot Lantych and fled, the district attorney's office said. A warrant was issued for Nagy's arrest on a charge of assault with intent to murder, and authorities said he was believed to be armed and dangerous.
The 43-year-old Nagy returned to the Starbucks at about 10:30 p.m. ET, and police there began to cordon off the scene. Nagy fatally shot himself in his car as officers approached him, Blodgett said.
"He has taken his life," Blodgett told Boston.com. "It is a tragic day."
Nagy and Lantych knew each other but the motive for the shooting is unclear, the district attorney's office said. Beverly and Hamilton are towns about 5 miles apart in northeastern Massachusetts.
Boston.com reported that the investigation was ongoing and that dozens of police officers and emergency medical personnel were gathered at the roped-off Starbucks parking lot Saturday morning.
Nagy was promoted to sergeant last summer after 19 years of service, according to a July 3 story from the Hamilton-Wenham Chronicle. His wife, Katie, smiled as she pinned a badge on Nagy's uniform, and their two young sons clapped, the newspaper reported.
When asked his feelings about the promotion, Nagy told the newspaper, "It feels great. I worked hard over the 19 years to get here."
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Msnbc.com staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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probably lovers who caught each other in airport men's room....sounds like justified shooting to me
I'm personally going with the "Alien Pod People" motive.
You could be correct; however, there is a 50/50 chance that the "woman" is a man
Alien Pod People? That's too funny. However, I will stand by my drugs and alcohol abuse theory. That seems to be the root of most of society's ills.
Apparently Small Town, Mass. police forces have same problem as Large City, USA police forces: Police force applicants are administered two written and one oral psychological fitness exams. Any applicant who passes even one of the exams is excluded (we can't have sane people in police uniforms). Solution is to stop hiring ex-USPS employees and change psychological fitness proceedures. Better yet, use Russian hiring method: Policeman is always right because he is government man and government is always right.
your an idiot
ron while vj may or may not be an idiot it's "you're" for you ARE. yeah yeah grammar police but if you are going to have a battle of wits at least bring some ammunition.
really, you are going to correct grammer. liberal moron, you will complain about grammer but you think its ok to criticize the requirements to become a cop which have been dumbed down for affirmative action.
wow ron you have NO clue who I am and think I am a liberal? Why is it when people run out of facts to argue they resort to name calling? That still makes you grammatically challenged and obviously lacking real ammunition in the battle of wits.
OotRascals is right. No poilce officer just walks up to another and guns him down. Something very serious had to be going on in Sergeant Nagy's life to make him do this to Officer Lantych. We don't yet know what caused this, it could have been any number of reasons: An extramarital affair, jealousy drugs, mental illness, ect. We'll have to wait until there's an explanation from the authorities.
Cops don't fly in from mars and do their job and fly back. They come from the human race with the same issues others may have. They pass a background investigation, mental evaluations and scrutiny beyond belief. Most of you could not pass the background nor do the job. However, because we live in a free world, you get to pass judgement on them and their occupation. If you on this blog really don't like the police, don't call them. It is the same as lawyers,. You hate them untill you need one. What a bunch of hypocrites.
I have been a nurse for 29 years and I have taken care of people of many "colors"....I would never say the so called N word to anybody. And in my opinion what the man said was what he thought....and I think he is what is referred to being a bigot...No decent person would make a person who is different from themselves feel bad on purpose. Anybody that I have taken care of as a nurse will tell you that I showed them the utmost respect. I didn't just do treatments and give them their meds I would make sure to sit and talk to them also. I am now on disability and still have friends of different races...to me people are people.... I do hope this man will never be able to be a police officer again....no person on the streets needs his help
And here go the anti-gun DORKS expressing their,Well you can't say point of view cause they ain't got one!!! They should know that to breathe does'nt mean they need to talk!!
You could say they're just shooting their mouths off...
As a wife of an officer my guess of this one it is over a woman. sad to have happened.
Your all stupid...Guns don't kill people..The Poe poe does!
shut up @!$%#
and ron shows his intelligence yet again. Poe Poe is a southern term for the police. But we all know what happens when one AssUMes things.
WELL! Theres a hair on this JuJuBee! We'll just have to wait and See! Two cops, No collar, One cop dead! Another in the hospital, with everyone scratching their head! Ba dit! Ba dit! ba dit! STAY TUNED FOLKS!
Well, at least he didn't take and wife and kids with him. That's what some cops do.
to all you ignorant people, this sounds like a personal problem between 2 people regardless of thier chosen and noble profession. please stop saying that if 1 cop is an idiot that they all are, and if you think that please post a sign on your house so the police do not need to worry about you. remeber not all of the tea party is racists and not all blacks hate whitey, grow up.
You can make moot points,and speculate for years! One thing is certain!DEAD or ALIVE! They'll be buried with BLUE TEARS!
Guns don't kill people. But they sure make it easy to do.
In order to catch a Criminal... You must, somewhat be a Better Criminal... or the Real Criminals, will always be one step ahead of you!
...thus said, Cops are sometimes better Better Criminals... What makes some of them, so different?
Nice cop. He returned to the scene to kill himself to make it easier on detectives investigating the case. What a thoughtful person he was.
I think the current ...Gas Prices, made him do it!
Gay love gone bad.
Buster...lol!
Good Gay....Bad Gay!
It doesnt really matter why the one cop shot the other. Cops are people too and have problems just like the rest of us. You act like they are suppose to be super human or something. There are corrupt people in every walk of life. Doctors, dentist, schoolteachers, etc. and yes police officers. My condolences go out to both families.
You just knew that gay marriage thing was going to lead to another level of domestic violence. Way to go, Massachusetts. Just fabulous!
cop on cop crimes! don't figure
The case of the # "last dount"!
Why does one cop kill another....to keep the other cop QUIET.....what the question should be is......WHY was he trying to keep him quiet. The only thing i can say is its bad that the cop couldn't at very least die in the line of duty. He was shot down by yet another crooked cop. And yes the cop that shot him.....invariably has to be crooked to shot a cop, if there was no threat to civilians.
sorry...i should say if that cop dies...the one thats in the hosp.
local paper says that the dead officer had shot the surviving one in the groin. The dead officers wife works for a domestic abuse program in town. Sounds like typical cheating scenario, but, maybe not.
ya all must be rocket scientist, doesn't take too much to figure this out. Even a fouth grade slueth could.
The cop that got shot was porking the other cops wife, cop that did the shooting didn't want to do time with the people he arrested. Ever cop knows you do time your screwed by the ones you put in, also, his wife cheated on him, he shot a cop he knew, he screwed himself and knew it, time to go, another coward cop killing himself. Hope the other cop lives just so he has to look this woman and kids in the eye, than look in the mirror and see what a sorry excuse for a man he really is. Too many available woman around to be messing with some other mans wife. No morals, does that surprise anyone?
I guess if you're around guns, your odds of being injured or killed by a gun increase. Just like if you swim in shark infested waters you're probably gonna get attacked by a shark. So I can't feel sorry for someone dying doing something that they want to do.
If your around muggers murders and democrats you have a better chance of being assaulted.
jim, if you drive a car your chances of being killed in one are greater than not driving one also.take your anti 2nd ammendment rhetoric elsewhere fool.
american: If you're around corporate fascist teabaggers and repubs your chance of dying in a lied for war to make obscene war profits for Halliburton, Brown&Root and Exxon-Mobile go way the hell up. lol