A Westbrook police officer has been cleared in the non-fatal shooting of a suicidal man outside a residence this spring.

A report released by the Maine Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday concluded that Officer Benjamin Hall “reasonably believed that there was an imminent threat of unlawful deadly force against him … and others,” when he shot Sean Grossman on April 2.

Grossman, 26, was armed with a loaded handgun and was threatening suicide. He was shot in the face but his injuries were not life-threatening.

As with all cases when a police officer uses deadly force, an investigation was conducted by the Attorney General’s Office. Hall, who had never shot anyone in the line of duty before, was placed on administrative leave following the shooting, which is standard protocol.

Grossman’s mother called 911 on the morning of April 2 warning that her son, who lived with her, was threatening to kill himself. His girlfriend, who police believe was assaulted by Grossman, had left the house on Longfellow Street and Grossman went to look for her in his car.

When a detective arrived, the mother told them she believed Grossman already had fired the gun two or three times.

Two other officers – Hall and Julian Kingsley – saw Grossman’s vehicle while on patrol and followed him home.

Grossman got out of the vehicle and ran toward the house with a 9-mm semi-automatic pistol in his hand. Detective Daniel Violette was on the deck and ordered him to drop the gun.

Instead, Grossman advanced toward him and told Violette to shoot him “while he pointed his gun at his own head,” the AG’s report stated.

Violette grabbed Grossman’s wrist in an effort to direct the gun away. The two struggled while Grossman “continued to scream for the police to shoot him.”

Hall and Kingsley had gotten out of their police cruiser and were watching the struggle from about 25 feet away. Both shouted for Grossman to drop the gun.

At one point, Grossman seemed to gain control of his gun and point it toward the two officers.

Hall fired a single round.

“The bullet struck Mr. Grossman at the bridge of the nose, passed through the brim of a baseball cap Mr. Grossman was wearing, and exited at his left eyebrow,” the report stated.

Grossman dropped the gun. Emergency personnel assisted him immediately.

He was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland with serious but non life-threatening injuries.

Grossman faces multiple charges related to the April 2 encounter with police, including criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, refusing to submit to arrest and violation of conditions of release.

He also faces charges of domestic violence reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, domestic violence assault, domestic violence criminal threatening and domestic violence terrorizing in connection with an earlier encounter with his girlfriend.

Those charges are all pending.

Grossman had run-ins with Westbrook police in the past. He was convicted of criminal use of disabling chemicals and assault in 2011, disorderly conduct in 2010 and theft in 2008.

Eric Russell can be contacted at 791-6344 or at:

erussell@pressherald.com

Twitter: PPHEricRussell

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