A man who fired at a New Bedford police detective and later fired at officers from inside a Blackmer Street residence on Wednesday evening, November 11, was found dead inside the home after a standoff that brought in Massachusetts State Police and a regional tactical team, New Bedford police said in a preliminary release issued at 12:58 a.m. on Thursday, November 12. No police officers, other public safety personnel or bystanders were hurt, Police Chief Jason Thody said.

Source: South Coast 360 (New Bedford Police Department preliminary release)

The release does not name the man, does not say how he died, and does not say whether shots fired by the detective or by a state trooper struck anyone. The investigation has been taken over by the Massachusetts State Police and the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, which will release further information, police said.

How it began: a vehicle stop that turned into gunfire

Just after 7 p.m. on Wednesday, a member of the New Bedford Police Department's Detective Division tried to stop a vehicle in the area of Potomska Street and South Front Street, in the city's South End, and the vehicle at first did not stop, police said. In the area of South First Street and Blackmer Street, the driver stopped and fired at the detective, and the detective returned fire, according to the release.

Source: South Coast 360 (NBPD release)

The vehicle then fled again and came to a stop at the intersection of Blackmer Street and South Second Street, where the man ran on foot into a residence on Blackmer Street, leaving a child in the vehicle, police said. The release says nothing about the child's condition or the child's relationship to the man, and police have not explained why the detective tried to stop the vehicle in the first place.

Perimeter, evacuations and more shots from an upper floor

More New Bedford police and Massachusetts State Police units responded and set up a perimeter while residents of the area were evacuated, police said. While officers held the perimeter and helped with the evacuations, the man fired more rounds at police from the second and/or third floor of the residence, and a Massachusetts State Police trooper returned fire, according to the release. Officers on police radio reported shots from the second floor at about 7:16 p.m., and WJAR (NBC 10), which had a crew at the scene, reported that officers had been fired at, that the residence was contained and that no injuries had been reported.

Source: WJAR NBC 10 via Coastal ABC; South Coast 360

Negotiators, a single shot, and a drone finds the man dead

Officers kept trying to communicate with the man and de-escalate the situation, police said, and the Massachusetts State Police, the Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (SEMLEC) Tactical Team and negotiators were called in and came to the scene. A short time later, a single gunshot was heard from inside the residence, according to the release.

Source: South Coast 360 (NBPD release)

After further attempts to make contact went unanswered, the SEMLEC Tactical Team deployed a drone into the residence, and the man was found dead inside, police said. Police have not said how he died, and this report does not speculate: in Massachusetts, deaths during police encounters are investigated by the district attorney's office, and the Bristol County District Attorney's Office now controls the release of further information.

"This incident highlights the danger our officers can be faced with in just a split second," Chief Jason Thody said in the release. "There is no doubt that the bravery shown by the officers from New Bedford and across Southeastern Massachusetts saved lives this evening. While any loss of life is tragic, I am grateful that no police officers, other public safety personnel, or innocent bystanders were hurt during this incident."

Source: Chief Jason Thody, quoted in NBPD release via South Coast 360

The neighbourhood and what residents lived through

Blackmer Street sits in New Bedford's South End, a dense residential district of multi-family homes a short distance from the working waterfront of one of the United States' most valuable fishing ports. For residents, Wednesday night meant a police perimeter around Blackmer Street at South First and South Second streets, evacuations from nearby homes, and hours of radio traffic and tactical vehicles before police confirmed in the early hours of Thursday that no officer or bystander had been hurt. Police had asked residents and motorists to avoid the area from shortly before 8 p.m. while the standoff was active.

Source: South Coast 360, earlier updates

What happens next

The Massachusetts State Police and the Bristol County District Attorney's Office have taken control of the investigation, and the district attorney's office will release further information, New Bedford police said. The man's identity is expected to be released only after that office confirms it and family notification is complete. For readers in Massachusetts — including Punjabi and other South Asian families in the Greater Boston, Worcester and Fall River–New Bedford corridor, and truck drivers who run Interstate 195 past the city — there is no continuing police warning for the Blackmer Street area, and the remaining questions in this case are the ones listed above, which only the district attorney's investigation can answer.