BOSTON, June 19, 2015—Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley this afternoon assigned a senior prosecutor to investigate the use of lethal force by a State trooper during a confrontation with an armed suspect.

Conley assigned Chief Trial Counsel John Pappas to lead the probe into the fatal shooting of an adult male at about 2:20 this afternoon on the Silber Way Overpass over Storrow Drive. The deceased has been tentatively identified as a 45-year-old Boston man; authorities are withholding his name until his identity has been confirmed and his family has been notified.

The preliminary investigation suggests that Boston University Police officers approached the man this afternoon in connection with an open investigation and active arrest warrant. A foot chase ensued, during which time the officers called for assistance. A uniformed State trooper working a detail in the area responded to that call and encountered the man on the footbridge. The preliminary investigation suggests that the man was armed with a knife, refused orders to drop it, approached the trooper, and was shot.

“Our role as prosecutors is to determine whether the use of lethal force was justified as a matter of Massachusetts law,” Conley said. “That determination will be made after a full, fair, and impartial investigation. We draw no conclusions from the preliminary evidence and we reserve judgment until all the facts are in.”

Under a voluntary policy dating back more than a decade, Conley said he will release the complete investigative file to the family of the deceased and the media upon the investigation’s completion.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.