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Malden police cleared in fatal shooting

E-mail|Link|Comments () November 13, 2009 04:10 PM

By Globe Staff

The Middlesex district attorney's office has cleared police in the fatal shooting of a man in a confrontation this summer in Malden.

District Attorney Gerry Leone said that two officers who fired their guns were acting "to save their own lives and those of their fellow officers."

Alexander Nesom, 20, died in the incident on Salem Street after being shot once in the left thigh, which perforated the femoral artery and vein, causing him to bleed to death.

The confrontation began when Malden police officers spotted a car that had been reported stolen at about 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 3.

Police stopped the car, but when they tried to get the occupants out, Nesom, who was driving, threw the car into reverse, hitting one officer and dragging another. He then drove forward hitting a third officer and two officers fired their guns.

"The reckless actions of the driver placed the lives of all three officers in danger," Leone said in a statement. He said the officers' actions were justified to "bring the incident under control and protect lives."