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NH Police Chief Shot, Killed 8 Days Before Retirement

GREENLAND, N.H. (CBS) - A man and woman were found dead in a home in Greenland, New Hampshire early Friday morning, hours after a shootout with police that left a police chief dead and four other officers wounded.

The bodies of Cullen Mutrie, 29, and a woman were discovered inside the house at 517 Post Road around 2 a.m. after authorities sent a robot with a video camera into the home where Mutrie and the woman were barricaded since Thursday night.

Cullen Mutrie
Cullen Mutrie (Photo courtesy: Portsmouth Police)

It's believed to be a murder-suicide or a double suicide.

The woman found dead in the home with Mutrie has been identified as his girlfriend, Brittany Tibbetts.

Attorney General Michael Delaney said Mutrie shot Greenland Police Chief Michael Maloney and four officers from other departments during a drug bust around 6:30 p.m.

A candlelight vigil was held for Maloney Friday evening at the Greenland Town Hall. Hundreds came to honor the man who seems to have had a relationship with every person in the town.

Michael Maloney
Greenland Police Chief Michael Maloney (Photo from Greenland PD)

Maloney, 48, died from a gunshot wound to the head.  He was due to retire in eight days.  He was married and had two children.

The wounded officers were identified as 32-year-old Detective Gregory Turner, a six-year veteran of the Dover police department, who was treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder and released; 31-year-old Detective Eric Kulberg, a seven-year veteran of the University of New Hampshire police department, who was treated for a gunshot wound to the arm and released; 33-year-old Detective Scott Kukesh, a 10-year veteran of the Newmarket police department, who was in intensive care after surgery for a gunshot wound to the chest; and 34-year-old Detective Jeremiah Murphy, a seven-year veteran of the Rochester police department, who was in intensive care after surgery for a gunshot wound to the chest.

Kukesh and Murphy were in stable condition Friday and were said to be resting comfortably with their families.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports

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The Associated Press was reporting that both were wearing bullet proof vests when they were shot and both are expected to survive.

Greenland is a town of 3,500 near the seacoast, with just seven police officers, including Maloney.

Maloney had been a police officer for 26 years.  He had been chief of the Greenland department since 2000.

The Red Sox held a somber moment of silence at Opening Day to remember Maloney.

Mutrie had a criminal record for past violence, had once been ordered to attend anger management, and was facing two separate trials this coming summer on charges for possession of anabolic steroids and domestic violence.

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