Police fatally shoot man on New Hampshire-Maine bridge along I-95; child, 8, found dead in vehicle

The New Hampshire attorney general’s office reports that a man linked to a murder was fatally shot by police on a bridge connecting the state to Maine, and that an 8-year-old child was found shot to death in the man’s car.

PORTSMOUTH, NH — A man linked to a New Hampshire murder was fatally shot by police on a bridge connecting the state to Maine. An 8-year-old child was found shot to death in the man’s car, the attorney general’s office said Thursday.

The Piscataqua River Bridge along Interstate 95 has been closed since about 3 a.m. and traffic was backed up on both sides as motorists were diverted to another bridge. The Piscataqua Bridge connects Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Kittery, Maine.

The incident appears to have started when a man killed a woman at night in a home in Troy, New Hampshire, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) away in the western part of the state, then drove to the bridge, attorney John Formella said in a news release.

“Early this morning, police made contact with the adult male on the bridge in an incident that ended in a fatal shooting. The Maine Attorney General’s Office is now investigating the officer-involved shooting,” the release said.

“Police on the bridge also found an 8-year-old child who had been fatally shot” in the man’s vehicle, the release said. “The exact circumstances surrounding this incident remain under investigation.”

There was no danger to the public and the bridge remained closed in both directions for the investigation, the press release said.

No names have been released.