Officer dies responding to Brentwood, NH domestic dispute

BRENTWOOD, N.H. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A police officer was killed while responding to a domestic dispute Monday afternoon.

Officer Steve Arkell was responding to a 911 call just after 4 p.m. when he entered the home and was shot. The alleged shooter, 47-year-old Michael Nolan, is believed to have been killed in the subsequent house fire and explosion.

Allegedly Nolan and his elderly father were fighting. Another police officer tried to enter the home, but was repelled by gunfire, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster, who spoke at a news conference held Monday evening. A short time later, the fire began.

The fire scene will be processed by the state fire marshal's office, and the crime scene will also be processed to understand the facts surrounding the incident. The FBI remained at the scene overnight.

"Tonight, I join all Granite Staters in mourning the loss of Brentwood Police Officer Steve Arkell," Governor Maggie Hassan said Monday night.

Numerous police cruisers and other emergency vehicles responded to the scene. SkyFOX was over the scene as someone was taken from the house in a stretcher.

An official from the Exeter Hospital in Exeter, N.H. confirmed that it had received one patient from the scene, but that person had not suffered a gunshot wound.

New Hampshire State Senator Jeanne Shaheen tweeted that her "thoughts are with the entire Brentwood community and first responders on the scene."

Neighbors were evacuated, and just some were allowed back to their homes late Monday night.

The address at Mill Pond Road appears to be part of the Mill Pond Crossing, a 55+ planned community. Brentwood is a town near Epping by the New Hampshire seacoast that has a population of less than 5,000 people.

Cox Media Group