Officers shoot and kill man who drove his SUV through steel doors into police station

Police shot a man dead after he drove an SUV into the lobby of a Massachusetts police department, whipped out what looked like a rifle and aimed it at officers.

It was 6:13 a.m. Sunday when a dispatcher in Worcester, Mass., saw the man, who police did not identify, on surveillance camera ramming the closed doors of the Leicester police station, authorities said.

“He repeatedly rammed those doors until he gained entry with his vehicle into the building,” said Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early in a press conference, adding that a dispatcher from the Worcester communications center saw it “in real time on surveillance video.”

The dispatcher alerted Leicester police on duty, and they arrived just as the “man exited the vehicle and immediately shouldered what appeared to be a rifle,” Early said. “After that action the police officers fired and shot the man.”

They immediately rendered aid, Early said, as paramedics converged on the scene, but the man was declared dead at a hospital.

“It’s very early in the investigation,” Early said, adding that they’d be releasing few details. “Interviews are still being conducted, and we’ve got to let the police do what they’ve got to do.”

Leicester Chief Kenneth Antanavica issued assurances that there was no further danger to the community.

“I’d just like to put the public’s minds at ease,” he said. “This appears to be an isolated incident, and there’s no danger to the public at this time.”

Authorities said the man, who was “Caucasian,” was known to police and had a pending traffic-court date.

They did not identify the man except to say that he was in his early 20s. He drove up the handicapped ramp to access the doors, which are made of steel and open outward, Antanavica said.

“Almost the entire vehicle was into the lobby,” Antanavica said.

The two officers who responded are on administrative leave, which is routine after an incident “of this magnitude,” Antanavica said. The matter is being investigated by the Massachusetts State Police.