Police: DA found Linden Street shooting justified as Fall River releases body camera video
The department says Vaughn fired first, with a gun fitted with a machine-gun conversion device. Its own review board also found the officers followed policy.
FALL RIVER Fall River police on Thursday released body camera video of the February shooting on Linden Street that wounded two officers and killed Nigel Vaughn, and said prosecutors found the officers' use of deadly force justified.
The department posted the video with a long statement on its Facebook page on Nov. 5. After an investigation by State Police detectives, "the Bristol County District Attorney's Office determined that the use of deadly force by members of our department on February 8, 2026, resulting in the death of Mr. Vaughn, was justified," the statement said. It did not say when the office reached that finding.
In February, police and the district attorney's office released still images from the officers' body cameras but not the video, WBUR and Boston.com reported at the time.
What the department says happened
Officers had two encounters with Vaughn that night, both in extreme cold after a snowstorm, the department said. Late on Saturday, Feb. 7, they answered a 911 call reporting a man driving erratically on Linden Street who had gotten into an altercation with other people near Knight's Gas Station/Towing. Within about an hour, early on Sunday, Feb. 8, a second 911 call reported a man with a gun on the same block.
"During this encounter, Mr. Vaughn discharged a firearm at responding officers, striking and wounding two members of our department," the statement said. Officers fired back, and Vaughn died of his wounds. Investigators found that his gun had been fitted with an aftermarket machine-gun conversion device, known as a "switch," that let it fire multiple rounds with one pull of the trigger, and that Vaughn, a convicted felon, was barred by law from having a gun, the department said.
In February, the district attorney's office said officers found Vaughn, 40, on Linden Street and that he "began to violently resist" during a pat frisk, then fired at police from the ground, WBUR and Boston.com reported. One officer was hit in the elbow and another in the abdomen, where he was wearing a bullet resistant vest, the office said then.
The officers
Neither Thursday's statement nor the February accounts from the district attorney's office and police named the officers. The two who were wounded were treated and released, the district attorney's office and police said in February, according to WBUR. Thursday's statement does not give their condition now, and South Coast 360 is asking the department whether both are back on duty.
"Through the grace of God all of the officers lives were spared," District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said in February, as WBUR and Boston.com reported.
Why the reviews found the force justified
Under the standard the department cited, an officer may use deadly force when there is no reasonable alternative and the officer has an objectively reasonable belief that it is needed to protect against an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury, without unnecessarily endangering innocent people. "At the time deadly force was employed, Mr. Vaughn was actively discharging a firearm at responding officers and had already struck two of them," the statement said.
The department also ran its own administrative review. Its Shooting Investigation Team agreed with the district attorney's finding and found the officers acted within department policy and 555 CMR 6.00, the state regulation on police use of force, the statement said. The department's Shooting Review Board then voted unanimously that the officers followed department policies and procedures.
The video
The video posted with the statement runs about 2 minutes and 42 seconds. It opens on a card with the department's badge and a warning that the clips come from police body cameras and may contain graphic content and offensive language. The department called the events it shows "deeply troubling and tragic." South Coast 360 is not republishing the footage.
"We believe transparency is essential to public trust," the department said of its decision to release it. The statement also offered condolences to Vaughn's family: "Regardless of the circumstances that led to this encounter, the loss of life is tragic, and we extend our condolences to those who continue to grieve his passing."
What happens next
As of Thursday evening, the district attorney's office had not posted a report on the shooting on its website. The office has posted final reports on earlier police shootings there, including a December 2023 shooting in Fairhaven and an April 2024 shooting in Raynham. South Coast 360 is asking the department for the district attorney's letter or report and the date of the finding, and will update this story with the answers.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every fact about the release, the finding and the department's reviews comes from the Fall River Police Department's own Nov. 5 statement on Facebook, which we read in full. The February account of the shooting and the officers' wounds comes from the district attorney's office and police as WBUR and Boston.com reported them, credited. We checked the district attorney's website for a report on Nov. 5 and found none. We looked at the video's opening card but did not describe the footage beyond it and the department's own words. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar. Not heard: we are asking Fall River police for the district attorney's letter or report, the date of the finding and the officers' condition; no answer had come when this was published. We have no public contact for Vaughn's family.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (4)
- Fall River Police Department, "Release of Body-Worn Camera Footage" (statement and video, Facebook)The release, the department's account of Feb. 7 and 8, the district attorney's finding as the department stated it, the department's reviews, the video's length and opening card, and the condolence line. Dated in the post Nov. 5, 2026. Read in full Nov. 5, 2026.
- Bristol County District Attorney's Office, Press ReleasesNo report or release on the Feb. 8, 2026 shooting posted; earlier final reports on the Fairhaven and Raynham police shootings listed. Read Nov. 5, 2026.
- WBUR, "Man dies, two police officers injured in Fall River shooting"The February account from the district attorney's office and police: the pat frisk, the officers' wounds, treated and released, the still images, and the district attorney's quote. Posted Feb. 9, 2026. Read Nov. 5, 2026.
- Boston.com, "Fall River man shot dead by police after shooting 2 officers, DA says"The February account from the district attorney's office, Vaughn's age, the vest, the still images and the district attorney's quote. Posted Feb. 8, 2026. Read Nov. 5, 2026.