BARNSTABLE, Mass. (WPRI) — Police have confirmed the officer who was shot while he was serving a warrant Thursday afternoon has died.
Police said Officer Sean Gannon with the Yarmouth Police Department was assisting other officers in serving a warrant at a home on Blueberry lane in the Marstons Mills village of Barnstable when he was shot.
Gannon was rushed to Cape Cod Hospital, where he later died. Police said Gannon’s K9 partner was also injured in the incident and was rushed to a veterinary hospital.
Cape & Islands District Attorney said in a press conference Thursday that the suspect, Thomas Latanowich, was taken into custody following a standoff with police. He will be arraigned and charged with murder. O’Keefe said more information would be released in court Friday morning. According to a Facebook post from the Yarmouth Police Department back in 2016, Latanowich is a notorious and violent criminal, who has faced more than 100 charges in Massachusetts.
The post said Latanowich was arrested back in December 2016 after he stabbed a man while he was out on probation with several charges pending. The Cape Cod Times reported that Latanowich also assaulted a pregnant woman in October 2016, and that he faced a “laundry list” of charges pertaining to firearms, drugs and assault back in February 2010.
“Sean was a wonderful young man,” Yarmouth Police Chief Frank Frederickson said. “We’re going to miss him terribly.”
The Rhode Island State Police posted to Twitter Thursday, saying their hearts are with the police department.
“We are going to need our going to need our community support with this, which is immense it’s already been shown,” Frederickson said.
“I hope that everybody out there appreciates the work that police officers, across the country, do every day,” Frederickson added. “To become a victim of a violent crime like this is just intolerable.”
Officers from several towns and districts lined the streets near Cape Cod Hospital as Gannon’s body was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Boston.
