LEXINGTON — A string of fatal police shootings across Greater Boston continued Saturday, when a 26-year-old man was shot and killed by police outside his Lexington home, authorities said.
The shooting occurred shortly after 1:40 p.m. on Mason Street, after the man’s father called 911 seeking medical assistance for his son, who he said had injured himself with a large kitchen knife, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.
Lexington police officers responded to the home, followed by members of the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, a consortium of 68 police departments in Middlesex and Essex counties, and two county sheriff’s departments. Officers escorted the man’s parents out of the house while the 26-year-old, whose name has not been released, remained inside.
As police established a perimeter, the man exited the home and advanced toward officers while holding a knife, Ryan said. Police attempted to use less lethal force twice before an officer shot the man, she said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The fatal shooting is the latest in a series of officer-involved killings in Massachusetts in recent weeks.
In early April, police shot and killed a 29-year-old former Berklee College of Music student near Northeastern University. In March, officers fatally shot a 39-year-old man in Roxbury. Both men had struggled with mental health. There were also deadly police shootings in Weymouth and Westminster in March. In three of the four incidents, authorities said the individuals were wielding a knife or sword.
The shootings have raised questions about how police respond to mental health and medical emergencies, particularly when officers are called to situations involving people in distress.
Ryan said at a press conference Saturday that the man’s family had called the police because they believed he needed medical attention. It remains unclear whether emergency medical workers or mental health specialists were dispatched alongside officers or called to the scene as the situation unfolded.
“It would be [police] practice, at that point, to just wait for the person to come out,” Ryan said. “In the terrible circumstances of today, he suddenly rushed the officer, still clutching the knife.”
About 15 minutes passed from when police escorted the man’s parents from the house to when police reported shots fired, according to police transmissions.
A spokesperson for the Middlesex district attorney’s office said further information about the police response will not be released while an investigation is ongoing. Ryan said the address “was known to the police.”
The officer who shot the man, a Wilmington police officer attached to NEMLEC, was taken to a local hospital “as a precaution” and later released, Ryan said. Officials have not said whether the officer has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation.
NEMLEC is made up of officers from dozens of local departments. The unit was already in Lexington for Patriots’ Day celebrations when the 911 call came in, though Ryan said the group would have been called in regardless because the man was armed and had barricaded himself inside the home.
James DiGianvittorio, NEMLEC’s executive director, said in a phone interview Sunday that local departments can request their assistance when needed, but the responding police department retains command of the scene.
He said the organization has a team trained in mental health and crisis response, although he could not comment on the officers involved in Saturday’s shooting.
“I have no idea who the officer is, I have not seen a report yet,” he said.
The Middlesex district attorney’s office is leading the investigation, as it does in all police shootings in the county.
On Sunday, Mason Street — a winding, wooded residential road — was quiet with no visible police presence. A few residents walked their dogs between periods of rain.
One resident recalled a 2022 fatal police shooting in Lexington, when officers killed Brendan Reilly during a mental health crisis. A judge later determined the shooting was legally justified, finding that the officer faced a “grave risk of serious injury or death.”
Saturday’s shooting occurred as Lexington marked the 251st anniversary of the start of the American Revolution, drawing thousands of visitors for a reenactment and Patriots Day parade.