Suspect fatally shot by Brockton police; investigation under way

November 6, 2008 01:12 PM Email| Comments (6)| Text size – +

By Globe Staff

Brockton police officers fatally shot a man Wednesday night after he pulled a handgun and pointed it at them.

The shooting of John Earl Parks, 25, is being investigated by State Police assigned to the Plymouth district attorney's office, the office said today in a statement.

The incident began at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when two officers observed two males engaging in suspicious narcotics activity. Officers approached and immediately apprehended one suspect, prosecutors said in a statement, citing their preliminary investigation of the shooting.

The second suspect, Parks, fled and was pursued to an area near Pleasant Street and Warren Avenue, where he pulled the gun.

"After refusing to drop the weapon, Parks was shot by officers," the statement said. Parks was pronounced dead at Brockton Hospital. The names of the officers involved will not be released until the investigation is over, prosecutors said.

An assistant to Police Chief William Conlon referred all questions to the district attorney's office.

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6 comments so far...

Good riddance.

One less criminal who can rob or kill me later.

Posted by PooBeaer November 6, 08 04:13 PM

Bad Men doing bad things pull a gun bang bang no more no more bad men thanx officer!!!

Posted by george from brockton November 6, 08 05:35 PM

PooPoo don't flatter yourself,
this is an disgrace to society... the police officers involved did not have to shoot to kill him... they could have aimed somewhere else.. then they wonder why nobody likes to help them out and show's no respect towards them they are a bunch of cowards hidding behind their badges. My heart goes out to the victims family... I hope the cops who did this go insane and burn in hell..

Posted by precious3 November 6, 08 06:55 PM

People love to criticize the police, but what if they had only wounded the suspect initially and he returned fire killing one of the officers? Then the blame would fall on the officer who didn't shoot to kill. The only thing that is sad here is the fact that the suspect, Mr. Parks, had to pull a weapon on an officer. No one forced him to carry a weapon or even pull it out in front of the police. If he hadn't brandished the weapon, he would still be alive and on the tax payer's tab in jail. For all the people that hate the police, its funny that you will still call them when you are in need of help, (ie a person breaking into your home and threatening your family with a weapon.)

Posted by cryptimic7 November 6, 08 11:05 PM

If we were alowed to bear arms with given right, the NEED for the Police would be to supervise...not heighten crime. Remember, many of the US police force members are ppl too...w/families. They TOO indulge in criminal activity. However the badge makes that activity, LEGAL. Until you've been assualted or wrong'd by Police in any way, I warn you not to CROWN them. They can't hang one day in a heated enviroment. That's why they became COPS. They didn't have to shoot to kill. However I knew Mr. Parks well. he had no right pulling a gun, small amt of drugs would've led to a small amt of time...

Posted by DKP201B November 13, 08 11:00 PM

The police do a lot of dumb things, but this wasn't one of them.

Mr. Parks chose to take the risk of being gunned down by the cops simply by pulling his own gun. He didn't have to. The police might not have had to shoot him fatally, but when you don't have much time to make the decision (let alone aim), they can only do this so effectively.

If you want to criticize the police, criticize them for pursuing too many people for speeding or smoking weed or other things that are relatively harmless to society. Don't criticize them for protecting themselves against people who pull guns on them.

Posted by ChopinCM November 17, 08 03:06 PM