Ashland shooting marks New Hampshire's third death following police encounters this month

A motor vehicle stop on Main Street in Ashland led to an exchange of gunfire Monday evening, leaving an officer with a gunshot wound and the driver of a vehicle dead. The incident marks the third time this month that people have died following encounters with New Hampshire police.

There were three fatal police shootings in all of 2025 in the state.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office says a male driver “produced a gun” during a traffic stop in Ashland, and then “engaged in an exchange of gunfire with the officers.”

The man died at the scene. An Ashland police officer was shot and wounded, and is currently being treated at an area hospital, the Attorney General’s office said. The identities of the driver in Ashland and the officers involved in the shooting have not been released.

Of the two other people killed during encounters with police this month, one was shot by police in Northfield and another died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a stand-off in Raymond. A police officer was injured in the Raymond incident. Last week, the Attorney General’s office identified officer Nikolas Ballentine as the officer who fatally shot 27-year old Megan Whiting in Northfield after responding to a domestic disturbance call.

All three incidents are under investigation.

Authorities have also yet to release their findings into the death of Nickenley Turenne, who was shot and killed during an interaction with Manchester police last December.

According to the Attorney General’s office, Turenne, who was 24, initially tried to flee after police responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle near a Manchester school. During a subsequent encounter, three police officers opened fire. There has been no indication from law enforcement that Turenne, who was Black, was armed.

Family and friends have repeatedly called for the release of the officers’ body-worn camera footage from the incident.

Last week, those relatives gathered outside of a Manchester Board of Aldermen meeting to again express their frustration with the lack of information from state authorities.

“They haven't given us any reason,” Wilda Turenne, Nickenley’s step-mother, said through tears.

Enick Turenne, Nickenley’s father, said the family has yet to receive a copy of his son’s autopsy report.

“Who's next? Who's going to be the next kid? Who's going to be the next person?” he said.