State police dog shot, killed during standoff with armed suspect in Fitchburg

FITCHBURG — A highly decorated state police dog was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon by a man who barricaded himself in a three-decker and later took his own life, according to authorities.

Frankie, a Belgian Malinois and nine-year veteran of the state police who would have turned 11 next month, was shot around 2:48 p.m. by 38-year-old Matthew Mack of Fitchburg. Troopers were attempting to arrest Mack on a warrant stemming from a July 21 shooting in the city.

Frankie was transported by ambulance to Wachusett Animal Hospital in Westminster, where he was pronounced dead.

Neither Frankie’s handler, Trooper David Stucenski, nor anyone else at the scene was injured.

“Frankie is the first state police canine killed in the line of duty,” state police Col. Christopher Mason told reporters Tuesday night. “The sacrifice will not be forgotten. Frankie had every trait you seek in a good law enforcement officers, canine or human — intelligence, courage and dedication to protecting the public. He was as loyal a partner as any trooper ever had.”

Frankie was expected to be transported “with full honors” from Wachusett to a pet crematorium in Rhode Island later Tuesday night, Mason said.

Standoff in neighborhood

About 9 a.m. Tuesday, Mason said, troopers started observing a three-decker at 40 Oliver St., planning to arrest Mack on a warrant for firearms offenses. Troopers made contact with Mack around 11 a.m., Mason said, but Mack “refused to exit” and barricaded himself inside.

Negotiators spoke multiple times with Mack in the early afternoon, Mason said. When police saw Mack at the rear exit of the top floor, the decision was made to arrest him, Mason said.

“During the attempt to apprehend him, Mack fired multiple shots toward team members and struck Frankie,” Mason said. “The suspect then retreated back into the residence.”

Mason said that Frankie was shot in an area that would not have been protected by a tactical vest worn by some canines.

The standoff occurred in a densely populated neighborhood in downtown Fitchburg, a couple of blocks from the Fitchburg branch of the YMCA and Fitchburg District Court. Police closed streets in a one- to two-block area around the scene, which in the middle to late afternoon was punctuated by the sound of pepper balls fired by police from a nearby parking lot into the top floor of 40 Oliver St.

About 5:20 p.m., a state police drone flying outside the building saw Mack dead inside. Mason said Mack died by an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. No police officers fired their weapons during the course of this incident.”

Several troopers wearing fatigues and protective gear climbed up the back stairs, opened one of the doors on the third floor, went inside, and then emerged a few minutes later.

A woman was in the third-floor apartment with Mack, Mason said, but she was later released. Mason said he did not know how the woman was related to Mack or whether she was there willingly.

“We believe this is a third-party home,” Mason said about 40 Oliver St., adding that he was not sure about Mack’s relationship to the apartment.

Awards and ‘Nero’s Law’

Frankie and Stucenski have been honored a few times in the last several years. They were awarded the Medal of Valor in 2017 at the annual George L. Hanna Awards for Bravery, the state’s top law enforcement award ceremony, for apprehending a hit-and-run suspect who turned and fired at them during a foot chase on a street in Springfield. Stucenski and Frankie also won the state police Medal of Merit for that incident.

In 2014, the duo won three awards from the United States Police Canine Association for evidence recovery, agility and other law enforcement skills.

And in June, state police honored Stucenski, Frankie and other members of the department’s Special Tactical Operations Team for the 2019 arrest of an armed child pornography suspect who opened fire on them when they went to apprehend him at a West Springfield motel.

According to Mason, Frankie’s transport by ambulance to Wachusett Animal Hospital was the first known usage of Nero’s Law since Gov. Charlie Baker signed it into law in April. The law allows emergency medical personnel to offer emergency treatment and transport of canine partners, including first aid, CPR and lifesaving efforts.

“When one of our K-9s pass — until today, never in the line of duty — our K-9 handlers have a saying: ‘Free Time,’ ” Mason said. “It means that these brave dogs who work so hard to protect the rest of us have earned their eternal peace. Free time and Godspeed, Frankie.”

Mack was familiar to police. In 2013, he robbed two women inside the Ultra Wash Laundromat on John Fitch Highway in Fitchburg.

He stole a car from one of the robbery victims and drove off, leading local and state police on a chase on Route 2 westbound to Orange, where he turned around and headed back east.

At one point, while authorities were trying to locate the stolen vehicle, a state police helicopter and tracking dog were involved.

The car he was driving was eventually stopped by police in Gardner.

This article originally appeared on Leominster Champion: State Police K-9 shot and killed during standoff in Fitchburg