Man suspected of killing wife is shot and killed by police on bridge before son, 8, found dead in his car

The eight-year-old was not killed in the officer-involved shooting, authorities said

A man was shot on the Piscataqua River Bridge after authorities said he called the police to tell them his wife was dead. Officers later found an eight-year-old boy dead in his car (AP)

New Hampshire police fatally shot a man who said his wife was dead — and later found their eight-year-old son dead in his car.

A man, whose identity has yet to be released, called the York Police Department just after 2 am on Thursday. He told officers he was involved in a dispute with his wife in Troy, New Hampshire, and that he killed her, local outlet WMTW reports.

When officers responded to the home, they found her dead.

Less than 20 minutes later, law enforcement officers found the man’s vehicle parked on the Piscataqua River Bridge, which connects Maine with New Hampshire, William Ross with Maine State Police told reporters.

The bridge is nearly 100 miles from the Troy home.

Police attempted to speak with the man. However, he then left the vehicle with a weapon. Maine State Police Trooper Craig Nilsen and two New Hampshire State Police troopers then opened fire, killing the man, Ross said.

His body, which tumbled off the bridge into the river, was recovered later that morning.

When officers searched his vehicle, they found an eight-year-old boy dead from a gunshot wound. However, Ross said his death was unrelated to the shooting moments before.

“I want to stress this right now, that the child’s death is not associated with the police officers’ use of deadly force,” Ross told reporters. “We have information that is not the case.”

Ross also confirmed the boy was the man’s son.

“They’re family: husband, wife and child,” Ross said.

Both the Maine State Police Major Crimes and New Hampshire State Police Major Crimes are investigating the case.

There are multiple cameras in use on the bridge to monitor traffic, but there is no record of the shooting because they are not set to record, Paul Merrill, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Transportation, said, according to the Associated Press.