BREAKING: Massachusetts State Police Respond to Suicide on Route 140

Massachusetts State Police responded to a suicide by gunshot that occurred overnight in a vehicle on Route 140 in New Bedford.

Late last night Troop D patrols were advised to be on the lookout for a red Ford Explorer, with an unknown Maine registration, being operated erratically on Route 24 south in Raynham. A short time later State Police learned that the driver of the Explorer, a 32-year-old man from Millinocket, Maine, was suicidal and armed, and had threatened to shoot anyone who tried to stop him.

Shortly before midnight, a Trooper located the vehicle traveling on Route 140 in Freetown, near Exit 8. The Trooper attempted to stop the vehicle. The operator, the Maine man, refused to stop. Troop D Headquarters authorized pursuit of the vehicle and assumed command and control.

A short time later the Maine man stopped his vehicle at Route 140 at Route 6 and immediately shot himself. The man was transported by ambulance to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, where he was pronounced deceased.