Authorities said today that the 23-year-old Lynn man who was fatally shot by police Sunday was on his way to commit an armed home invasion.
Brandon Payne was shot twice by police during a traffic stop in Lynn about 9:30 p.m. Sunday. He later died at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“The investigation team received reliable information that Mr. Payne and others in two vehicles were in the process of initiating an armed home invasion,” Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said in a statement. “Acting on this information, members of the Massachusetts State Police Gang Unit and the Lynn Police Department acted swiftly to prevent this potentially deadly home invasion by attempting to stop the vehicles.”
Police said this week that three Lynn officers and a state police trooper fired their guns at the car Payne was allegedly driving when it rammed a police cruiser. The officers have not been identified.
Blodgett said today that police recovered two handguns and a shotgun from the cars after the incident.
Authorities are still investigating the shooting.
