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Report clears Nashua police in officer-involved shooting

By Dean Shalhoup - Senior Staff Writer | May 17, 2019

Photo by Jeffrey Hastings Police officers and detectives gather in the early morning hours of June 26, 2018 to investigate the officer-involved shooting at 106 Ledge St.

CONCORD – Officer James Ciulla, the Nashua police officer who shot 29-year-old Justin Contreras in a Ledge Street apartment building nearly a year ago, was legally justified in the use of deadly force, according to a Thursday statement by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office.

While a preliminary report indicated the shooting was justified, authorities said they had to wait until Contreras’ criminal case was settled before releasing the full documentation.

Contreras on May 3 pleaded guilty to one count of criminal threatening, thereby settling the case and permitting the release of the report, authorities said.

The charge accused Contreras of pointing a gun at a police officer in hopes police would kill him, according to court files and police reports.

Ciulla was one of several officers who responded to 106 Ledge St. around 10 p.m. June 26 for a report of a suicidal person.

Ciulla shot Contreras after Contreras, who was armed with a black revolver, allegedly refused Ciulla’s commands to “drop the gun” when they met in a hallway in the residence.

The report released Thursday states the gun wasn’t loaded, but an examination “concluded the weapon was operable and capable of firing bullets.”

After he was shot, Contreras was conscious, and, according to police, said “he was sorry,” and that he “just wanted you guys to kill me.”

Ambulance personnel transported Contreras to a local hospital, from which he was later flown by medical helicopter to a Boston hospital. It’s not clear when he was discharged, but he was back in Nashua by 8 p.m. July 2 – the time he was arrested on the criminal threatening charge.

Police said they took Contreras into custody after stopping the vehicle in which he was a passenger, shortly after it left 106 Ledge St.

The events that led up to the shooting began when Hudson police received a 911 call from members of Contreras’s family, who live in Hudson.

They said Contreras was at their home earlier in the day “making statements regarding committing suicide due to a breakup with his girlfriend,” police reports state.

He allegedly threatened to kill himself with a knife, then punched a hole in the wall, the family members told police.

They said he later left, possibly headed to 106 Ledge St. They expressed their concerns to police about his emotional condition and the fact he had “access to a gun” at that location.

When Nashua police went to the Ledge Street residence, they found Contreras’ vehicle in the driveway, and began calling out to him, asking him to come out of the house.

At one point, officer Guido Marchionda spotted him in an upstairs window, shone his flashlight on him and “asked him to come down … but Justin disappeared from view,” the reports state.

Moments later, Marchionda heard Ciullo’s commands to “drop the gun,” followed by the sound of gunshots, according to the reports.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com, or @Telegraph_DeanS.

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