A shooting at a shopping plaza in Berlin on Tuesday afternoon left one person dead and the suspected gunman dead hours later after a police response on Interstate 495, according to authorities.
Berlin police were called to the Shops at Highland Commons shortly after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday following reports of a shooting.
When officers and emergency responders arrived, they found a victim suffering from apparent gunshot wounds, according to the announcement. Police, firefighters and EMS personnel from Berlin, Hudson, Bolton and Boylston attempted to provide medical aid, but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities said a witness who was at the shopping plaza followed the alleged suspect’s vehicle as it traveled north on Interstate 495 and contacted Massachusetts State Police. Troopers located the vehicle and brought it to a stop near mile marker 91 in Lowell, close to the Lowell Connector.
The Massachusetts State Police Crisis Negotiations Team, Department of Field Services and detectives assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office responded to the scene.
According to the announcement, the preliminary investigation indicates the suspect suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced dead.
Officials said there is no ongoing threat to the public.
The investigation remains in its early stages and is being conducted by the Berlin Police Department, Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the Worcester and Middlesex district attorneys’ offices, the State Police Crime Scene Services Section, the State Police Crash Reconstruction Section, the State Police Firearms Identification Section and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Authorities have not yet released the identities of either the victim or the suspected shooter, and no additional information about the circumstances leading to the shooting was immediately available.
