The security guard and former chief of police killed Friday when a gunman opened fire at a New Hampshire psychiatric hospital where he was working was be remembered at a candlelight vigil on Monday.
About 1,000 people gathered on a frigid night to honor retired Franklin Police Chief Bradley Haas, who was on duty as a security officer when he was fatally shot in the lobby of the state-run New Hampshire Hospital in Concord.
"He's a true hero, and I'm very, very thankful that he was there on Friday, because I know he saved so many people," said Katya Sullivan, a staff member at the hospital.
"We all knew Brad," said hospital CEO Ellen Lapointe. "He was often the first person we met when we came into work and the last person we saw when we left."
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Haas dedicated his life's work to the community and the country. He served in the Army and then worked at the Franklin Police Department for nearly three decades, before retiring as police chief and coming to work at the hospital.
"We're a state that leans on community," Gov. Chris Sununu said Monday. "That leans on our neighbors, our coworkers. Whatever the tragedy may be, to see the outpouring of support was so reaffirming."
Colleagues at the psychiatric hospital wanted to make sure Haas was honored for his bravery and commitment.
"We'll always be forever grateful and hold him close in the warmth of our memory," said Lapointe.
Investigators in New Hampshire are still seeking answers as to why a man shot Haas at the hospital moments before being killed by a state police trooper.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said Saturday that 33-year-old John Madore entered New Hampshire Hospital on Friday afternoon and killed Haas, a state Department of Safety security officer who was working at the front lobby entrance of the facility.
Michael Garrity, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, said Sunday that the investigation into the shooting “is active and ongoing.”
Autopsies determined that the cause of death for both Haas and Madore was multiple gunshot wounds, according to Formella’s office.
In 2016, Madore faced assault charges that were later dismissed, according to a court summary of the case. The summary, without elaborating, indicates that a judge had ordered Madore to be transported from New Hampshire Hospital for a court hearing.
Madore was most recently living in a hotel in the Seacoast region and also had lived in Concord, according to Formella. He was wielding a 9mm pistol and had additional ammunition on him when he shot Haas, who was unarmed.
Police also found an AR-style rifle, a tactical vest and several ammunition magazines in a U-Haul truck in the hospital’s parking lot and were investigating connections between the truck and Madore.
The shooting happened around 3:30 p.m. and was contained to the front lobby of the 185-bed facility, according to investigators. CPR was performed on Haas, who later died at Concord Hospital.
On the day of the shooting, there were 152 patient beds occupied at the hospital according to a daily patient census report by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. The facility is the only state-run psychiatric hospital for adults in New Hampshire,
“We have a lot of work to do to really figure out who this man was, why he might have done what he did, what led up to this incident,” Formella said Saturday, adding that the Haas family has requested privacy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
