Officers on leave following shooting

Prosecutors probe death of man, 43

DEDHAM - Two Dedham police officers who were involved in the shooting death of a man who had allegedly been armed with a knife have been placed on administrative leave while prosecutors investigate whether the shooting was justified.

Police fatally shot John R. Crosby, 43, inside his home following a 45-minute standoff Saturday evening, a spokesman for the Norfolk district attorney's office said yesterday.

The shooting took place in an apparent rooming house at the end of a quiet, private road while the community was celebrating its Flag Day parade in another part of town.

Police were called to 11 High Rock Road at 5 p.m. after someone outside on a cellphone called 911 to say a man there was behaving erratically, said David Traub, a spokesman for District Attorney William R. Keating.

It was not clear yesterday why the police response turned into a standoff between Crosby and numerous Dedham officers. Dedham police were talking with Crosby, and at some point called for a State Police crisis negotiator.

Before the negotiator arrived, police said, Crosby charged at officers inside the house about 6:15 p.m. Two officers responded by firing their weapons at Crosby.

One officer missed while the other shot Crosby. It was not clear yesterday how many shots were fired or how many times Crosby was hit. Crosby was taken by ambulance to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where he died in surgery at 10:17 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.

The officers involved in the death were not identified.

Dedham and State police referred inquiries about the case yesterday to Keating's office, which investigates all officer-involved shootings.

Traub said authorities were investigating why police believed Crosby had a knife and whether he was wielding a knife when he allegedly charged at the officers.

James A. MacDonald, chairman of the Dedham Board of Selectmen, said he and Dedham police Chief Michael Weir had visited the officers involved at a hospital.

"The officers involved were not injured, and I know we as a community and I as a selectman are grateful that they're not hurt," he said.

MacDonald said he and other selectmen were assembling at the head of the town's Flag Day parade, which began at 6 p.m., when Weir informed them police were involved in a standoff.

Weir told him after the parade that officers had been involved in a shooting.

"They're trained to use deadly force," MacDonald said. "It's always the last resort, but I also know the officers in Dedham are extremely well-trained."

Daniel Megan, an eighth-grade teacher who lives near the shooting scene, said he knows everyone living on the short street except for the residents of the house where the shooting happened. He said he and other neighbors have complained to the town that they believe it is an illegal boarding house. He said the house is "very quiet" and that people seem to move in and out every few months. Megan said he was not home when the shooting occurred.

A woman who answered the phone at a number listed for the house would not give her name and said she was not home when the shooting happened. She described Crosby as her friend.

"He was a great man, a wonderful person," she said.

John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.