Published: 3/31/2021 10:22:06 PM
Modified: 4/1/2021 6:55:49 PM
CLAREMONT — A 40-year-old Claremont man was killed by multiple gunshot wounds after a standoff with members of the New Hampshire State Police SWAT team, authorities said Thursday.
Jeffrey Ely exchanged gunfire with six members of the SWAT team and was killed by “multiple gunshot wounds to the head, neck, upper and lower extremities, and torso,” according to an autopsy conducted Thursday, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said in a news release.
Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Mitchell Weinberg said the manner of death is being characterized as a homicide, which is the killing of one person by another.
Friends of Ely told the Valley News they had become concerned recently about his mental health because of posts he had made on his Facebook page, and one friend had called police for a welfare check.
Claremont police had responded to 247 Sullivan St. on Wednesday for reports of gunshots in the area, Claremont police closed a stretch of Sullivan Street near the warehouse and industrial property because of a “police incident.”
Authorities said Ely had barricaded himself inside at the address, leading police to call for backup from the New Hampshire State Police SWAT team that evening.
After they arrived, “gunfire was exchanged” between state police and Ely, who was killed.
No police or other civilians were injured in the shooting. Authorities have not released the names of the troopers involved, but said that they were not wearing body cameras.
The Attorney General’s Office said it will not release any further information until formal interviews with the troopers are conducted.