Full Report Concerning 2020 Concord Trooper Shooting Released

CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Attorney General's Office has released its full investigation of an officer-involved shooting in Concord in April 2020 after a burglary and threat incident in White Park had been resolved in Merrimack County Superior Court.

On April 5, 2020, Concord police were sent to White Park for an alarm activation at the Merrimack Lodge and later, became involved in a standoff with Dylan Stahley, who was 22 at the time. New Hampshire State Police troopers later arrived and at just after midnight, he was shot by Michael Petrillo, a state trooper. Stahley was hospitalized and later, recovered from the injury.

A few weeks after the incident, the attorney general's office deemed the shooting justified but did not release the full report due to Stahley's pending charges — including felony burglary, criminal trespass, reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, felon in possession of a dangerous weapon, and two criminal threatening with a deadly weapon charges.

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On Jan. 20, Stahley pleaded guilty to the reckless conduct, felon in possession, and the two threat charges. He was sentenced to a number of 12-month terms, all to be served consecutively, and also three to six years terms, with time deferred and 291 days credit for being in prison at the time the case made its way through court. He was found not guilty on the criminal trespass charge. In mid-February, Stahley requested early release which was denied, and a review hearing in March was also canceled. Stahley is due back in court for a review hearing on April 27.

According to the report, family members came to the park to aid Stahley after he attempted to burglarize the lodge. While with them, he made suicidal threats and brandished a handgun, the report stated. Police, who were informed of the incident due to alarms going off at the lodge, converged on the scene and set up a perimeter around the park.

"Mr. Stahley paced around the field and yelled at the officers, saying that he was going to shoot himself and asking the officers to shoot him," the report said. "At times, he pointed his pistol in all directions including at himself, at multiple police officers, and in the direction of occupied homes surrounding White Park."

At one point, he requested a helicopter, claimed he was a pedophile, and pointed his gun at his chin and temple "multiple times," the report said. He also was accused of taunting officers in an effort to get them to shot him, according to investigators. Officers attempted to get him to surrender but were unable to and the incident escalated.

About an hour into the standoff, Stahley pointed his handgun at officers on White Street and Petrillo shot him with a single round from a rifle. Stahley was hit in the arm and dropped to the ground, the report said.

No one else was injured in the incident.

More than a dozen witnesses gave testimony in the 25-page report including police, neighbors, and even Stahley, who admitted to the incident being his fault and he was lucky to be alive, the report said.

Before the incident, Stahley had a number of run-ins with police including in early October 2017, he was arrested in Concord on a prowling charge after an incident near Penuche's in Bicentennial Square. A week after that, he was arrested on a criminal trespass charge after an incident on Liberty Street near White Park. In September 2018, he was arrested by Concord police after a girl accused him of rape during a party in August 2017 in the Concord quarries. He pleaded guilty in 2019 to an assault charge with a 90-day sentence as part of a plea deal. Stahley was accused of reckless conduct-deadly weapon, witness tampering, and breach of bail in December 2018 after an incident in Concord. In October 2019, he was found guilty of reckless conduct. In September 2019, he was arrested in Concord on a bench warrant near the Shell gas station on Loudon Road. Stahley was also served with a violation of probation charge in May 2020 and was found guilty in January sentenced to time served. On Feb. 5, he was charged with another violation of probation accusation.

Read the full report here.

A free, 24/7 confidential service is available that can provide people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress, or those around them, with support, information, and local resources. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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