According to a statement by Peterborough Police Chief Scott Guinard, a non-lethal round and Taser were required to apprehend an individual Tuesday night who had allegedly threatened neighbors on Keenan Drive with a rifle earlier in the evening. 

John Fortin, 64, was charged with four counts of criminal threatening with a deadly weapon. He was expected to be arraigned Wednesday in the 8th Circuit Court in Jaffrey. The Peterborough Police Department is continuing to investigate the incident and expects additional charges, according to Guinard’s statement. 

According to Guinard, the department was notified at approximately 6 p.m. that a man on Keenan Drive was “armed with a rifle, yelling and threatening neighbors.” The incident occurred in the Pine Ridge area of the town, which is several blocks behind South Meadow School and the SAU office.

At 7:13 p.m., a Nixle alert from the Peterborough Police Department advised residents near Keenan Drive and Taylor, Nichols and Tarbell roads to “vacate the area due to an active police emergency” and directed them to the Town House as a place open to shelter, or to shelter in place. At 8:10 p.m., the department posted on its Facebook page that the incident was contained to the Keenan Drive area, and that residents not within that area were not in any danger.

Mutual aid responded and assisted Peterborough police in establishing a perimeter around the residence. This aid included a State Police SWAT team, which began negotiations with Fortin at about 11 p.m. According to Guinard, “The male subject approached SWAT members, at which point a non-lethal round was fired, knocking the male subject to the ground. A New Hampshire State Police K9 was deployed, and the subject began to fight with the K9, that is when the subject was Tased and taken into custody.”

At 11:48 p.m., the department posted on Facebook that someone was in custody and the shelter-in-place had been lifted. At 11:53 p.m, an alert was sent by the Peterborough police that the situation had been resolved  and that “displaced residents are free to return home.”

Fortin was transported to Monadnock Community Hospital and then to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon for treatment of his injuries. 

In addition to the New Hampshire State Police, mutual aid was rendered from Antrim, Greenfield, Hillsborough, Jaffrey, Keene, Mont Vernon, New Ipswich, Temple-Greenville, Monadnock Regional Special Response Team, Keene SWAT, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Peterborough Fire & Rescue.