2006 Manchester, New Hampshire, police officer shooting

The 2006 Manchester, New Hampshire, police officer shooting took place on October 16, 2006, in Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. Police officer Michael Briggs was shot while on duty. Briggs was later transported to the hospital where he died of his injuries. The suspect, Michael "Stix" Addison, fled the state of New Hampshire, prompting a manhunt by police. Fifteen hours after the shooting, Addison was arrested in Dorchester, Massachusetts, waived domestic extradition, and was transported back to New Hampshire.

Prior to his return to New Hampshire, Addison was charged by Boston Police with being a fugitive from justice. Addison was transported to the Suffolk County Jail; bail was set at $2 million (2006 US$) in bail. New Hampshire prosecutors sought the death penalty for Michael Addison, as killing the police officer qualified the crime as a capital murder. There was debate about the place of capital punishment in New Hampshire, which had not executed any person since July 1939. The October 16, 2006, shooting and a string of crimes that occurred a week earlier resulted in the arrest and questioning of two more people connected with Addison.

A week after the shooting, a memorial service and procession was held for Briggs in Manchester on October 21, 2006. In January 2007, the Manchester Police Department retired Michael Briggs' badge number in honor of the fallen officer. In March 2007 a trial date for Addison was set for early September 2008.

The capital murder trial of Addison was the first for the state since Gordon E. Perry was indicted for capital murder charges for the shooting of Officer Jeremy Charron in 1997. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Addison is the only person on death row in the state. The state supreme court upheld his conviction and sentence in 2014-2015. The US Supreme Court declined to hear his case.

Michael Briggs (1971–2006) was born in Epsom, New Hampshire, and served in the United States Marines from 1991–1995 after graduating from Pembroke Academy in 1990. From 1995–2001 he worked as a correctional officer and a police officer for the Epsom Police Department from 1995–1998. On May 2, 2001, Briggs became a police officer for the Manchester Police Department and was assigned as a bicycle police officer. Briggs graduated from the New Hampshire Police Academy in November 2001. In 2004, he received a life-saving medal after saving residents from a burning building. He was awarded the Congressional Law Enforcement Award in October 2005 for the same actions. Briggs was a member of the New Hampshire Police Association. Briggs was married and the father of two young sons. He was a friend and co-worker of Jeremy Charron, who was killed on duty in August 1997.

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