Lynn police shoot man armed with knives

LYNN – A blood-stained driveway is all that remains from a violent encounter between the Lynn police and a resident of Linwood Street early Sunday.Mathieu Michaud, 25, of 14 Linwood St., was shot once by the police and is expected to survive, according to Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett?s office. The incident happened shortly after 1 a.m., when officers received a 911 call from someone threatening to kill himself. Two officers arrived at the scene and were confronted in the street by Michaud, who was allegedly carrying a butcher knife and two carving knives.As Michaud approached the cruiser on the driver?s side, both officers exited the vehicle, identified themselves several times and ordered him to drop the knives. Officers then saw that he had what appeared to be a gun and ordered him to stop, but he did not.At that point, Michaud was shot one time in the upper torso and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he underwent surgery.Jose, a Linwood Street resident who declined to give his last name, said he was watching television in his home at the time of the shooting.?I heard three pops, looked outside and saw a guy laying face up in the street,” he said. “When the paramedics moved him, he was bleeding like crazy. I thought he was dead.”Another neighbor, Adam, who also declined to give his last name, said Michaud?s home has been visited by the Lynn police several times.?The SWAT team was there a couple of years ago,” he said. “And my car window was smashed a few times? I believe it has to do with that house.”No one was home at Michaud?s residence Sunday afternoon, where a United States Marine Corps flag flapped in the breeze and a happy 25th birthday message to Mathieu was scrawled on the front door in blue paint.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said she was apprised of the incident early Sunday, and remarked how officers never know what they are going to encounter everyday.?I know the Lynn Police are very well-trained and I?m confident that once the investigation is complete, the officers will be found to have acted properly,” she said.Police Chief Kevin Coppinger said the investigation, which is in the preliminary stage, looks as if the officers followed the department protocol.?They did everything correctly,” he said. “Hopefully the investigation will be done in a few days. There are still a couple interviews that need to be conducted as well as getting the ballistics results.”Coppinger said the department is familiar with Michaud, who was arrested in 2009 for assault and battery charges and in Saugus in 2005 for drunken driving offenses.Neither officer was injured in the incident, but they were treated at a nearby hospital for precautionary reasons.?We like to make sure they get checked out by medical professionals because an incident like this is an emotional and stress-filled one,” Coppinger said.Both officers are currently on paid administrative leave pending the investigation. Neither of the officers? names were released.