A Burlington Police officer was cleared of wrongdoing when she shot a man to death as he allegedly ran at her with a knife in her hand last year.
Burlington Police Officer Aurise Miedico underwent a three-day inquest into her killing of Paul Courtemanche, 42, on Jan. 23, 2022.
Woburn District Court Judge Shelby M. Smith heard testimony from 10 witnesses and reviewed 60 exhibits during the inquest beginning Jan. 11 before finding that “a reasonable, prudent person would not find that the actions of Officer Miedico make her criminally responsible for the tragic death of Mr. Courtemanche, or that she is otherwise criminally responsible.”
Courtemanche, 42, called 911 from a Burlington apartment building slightly after noon that day and told police that he had a knife and was having some issues. He would remain on the phone even as Burlington firefighters and police Officers Robert Reyes and Aurise Miedico were dispatched to the building. The call was labeled a “Q5,” meaning “a subject is making threats or attempts at suicide.”
The officers staged outside Lord Baron Apartments on Baron Park Lane as they awaited backup.
Courtemanche, draped in a blanket and wielding a roughly 8- to 10-inch kitchen knife over his head, allegedly ran out of the building and toward the officers. Both officers ordered him to stop and drop the knife, but the inquest report says he ignored the demands. Miedico then fired a “less-lethal” round at Courtemanche, but that did not stop his quick advance.
Miedico backed up as Courtemanche advanced, but she tripped and Courtemanche loomed over her with a knife. It was at this moment, according to the inquest’s findings, that Miedico fired her service pistol twice, striking Courtemanche in the leg and the eye, killing him.
“Any reasonable law enforcement officer in the same position would reasonably believe that she was in imminent danger of being seriously injured or killed. At that moment no reasonable alternative existed, except for the use of deadly force,” Judge Smith wrote in her report.