A 25-year-old man was injured after police opened fire during an incident at a mall in Kingston, Massachusetts, early Tuesday, landing the man in the hospital.
The man has since been identified as Alexander Bakutis, of Plymouth. He is in police custody and has been charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, Kingston police said.
Law enforcement responded to the Kingston Collection around 3 a.m. after receiving a call from a security guard about about a man allegedly acting "threatening and erratically," the office of Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said in a statement.
Kingston police said a security guard called 911 around 2:45 a.m. to report that a man in his 20s had allegedly brandished a large knife and told the guard to get out of the vehicle.
Kingston officers found the suspect near the entrance of the old Sears parking lot. Police say Bakutis had a large knife in a sheath on his hip. He was given several verbal commands by police officers, but ignored them, police said.
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In response to the suspect's "aggressive and threatening actions," police say they attempted to deescalate the situation and used "non-lethal tactics" to get him to comply.
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Bakutis allegedly continued to escalate his "threatening behavior," according to police.
"Fearing for the safety of themselves and the safety of others, the officers drew their firearms," Kingston Police Chief Maurice Splaine said in a statement.
The district attorney said shots were fired by the police after the man allegedly threatened officers.
Police say Bakutis was shot once in the shoulder. He was taken by ambulance to Boston Medical Center with what police believe are non-life threatening injuries.
A Kingston police officer was treated by first responders "out of an abundance of caution," Cruz's office said. He was taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons, Kingston police said.
An active investigation is underway, the district attorney's office said, and the Kingston Police Department said it is cooperating fully with that investigation.
The officer who shot Bakutis, identified only as a 15-year veteran of the department, will be on administrative leave during the investigation, Chief Splaine said.
NBC10 Boston and NECN have not independently verified information from the police or district attorney.
Bakutis is expected to be arraigned remotely by the Plymouth District Court on Wednesday, Sept. 23. It's unclear if he has a lawyer.
