Officers cleared in fatal shooting of suspect in Mansfield

By Globe Staff

Bristol County prosecutors say that police were justified when they fatally shot a 20-year-old man who advanced toward them and pulled a “black object” out of his pocket after the car he was riding in was stopped in Mansfield in April.

“The investigation has concluded that based on all of the circumstances involved, the officers’ actions were necessary to defend themselves and others,” the Bristol District Attorney’s office said today in a statement.

David Semenza of Easton was the passenger in a Ford Explorer driven by another man when they robbed a Mansfield bank around 4:30 p.m. on April 24, authorities have alleged.

Customers alerted police, and the car was forced to pull over by police on School Street. Semenza then “willfully and intentionally refused to comply with police orders” as he approached police, prosecutors said. The object he pulled out of his pocket turned out to be a cellphone.

“It has been determined that the officers involved acted within the scope and performance of their duties, and with reasonable force under the circumstances,” the statement said.

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