PITTSFIELD, Maine — Two state troopers are under investigation after a Pittsfield man died during an "armed confrontation" with police.
Maine State Police officers went to a home on Detroit Street around 8 a.m. to help the Pittsfield Police Department with a “domestic disturbance” incident where shots were fired, Maine Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Shannon Moss said in a news release.
Police said they tried to get Gregory Lasselle, 27, of Pittsfield out of the house all morning, but he refused to come out.
After 12 hours of negotiations with the Maine State Police Tactical Team and the Maine State Police Crisis Negotiation Team, Lasselle was killed in an armed confrontation with MSP troopers Corporal Paul Casey and Sgt. J.B. MacDonald, according to the release.
Police declined to say whether the troopers shot Lasselle.
The two troopers involved in the incident have been placed on administrative leave while Lasselle’s cause of death is investigated by the Maine Attorney General’s Office, a protocol in all officer-involved shooting deaths.
Moss said no additional information on the circumstances of the shooting would be released Saturday afternoon. State police officers are cooperating with the investigation.