KITTERY, Maine — Three troopers acted “reasonably” when they fatally shot a man on a bridge that connects New Hampshire and Maine last summer, Maine Attorney General’s Aaron Frey has ruled.
On Aug. 29, 2024, 37-year-old Trent Weston called 911 to report that he had killed his wife at their home in Troy, New Hampshire, before driving 100 miles to the Piscataqua River Bridge near the Kittery-Portsmouth line, according to law enforcement.
Authorities then tracked Weston’s phone to the bridge and found his vehicle parked in the southbound lanes. At the time, he emerged from his vehicle with a handgun pointing down at the ground, ignoring multiple requests to drop the firearm, investigators said.
A lengthy standoff involving multiple agencies from New Hampshire and Maine ensued and continued until Weston raised his firearm and pointed at New Hampshire officers, according to officials.
Maine State Police Trooper Craig Nilsen was the first to fire upon Weston. New Hampshire State Police Trooper Stefan Wong-Wagner and New Hampshire State Police Sgt. Nicholas Cyr then also shot at Weston.
Weston, who had been seated on a jersey barrier, fell off the bridge after the gunfire. His body was recovered by the Coast Guard, but his pistol was never found
Law enforcement later found Weston’s 8-year-old son dead from multiple gunshots in the backseat of his car. An investigation revealed that the boy had been shot inside the vehicle at close range.
The Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later determined that Weston died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. He had also been shot in the chest, back, arm, and thigh.
“When Trooper Nielsen, Trooper Wong-Wagner, and Sgt. Cyr deployed deadly force against Trent Weston, they reasonably believed that he was about to use unlawful deadly force against the officers on the bridge,” AG Frey concluded.
Frey added, “The three officers reasonably believed they were acting in defense of themselves and other officers.”
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