IDs released but questions linger after family tragedy that ended on a bridge
KITTERY, Maine (AP) — A family of three had recently moved into a duplex in Troy, New Hampshire, before violence erupted with the father fatally shooting his wife and their 8-year-old son before a standoff on a bridge in which the father was shot by troopers and fell 100 feet (30 meters) into the water below, police said.
Police identified the deceased on Friday as Brittany and Trent Weston, both 37, and their son, Benson. Officials said mother and son died from multiple gunshot wounds inflicted by Trent Weston, who was shot multiple times by troopers.
Two New Hampshire troopers and a Maine trooper fired their weapons Thursday morning when Trent Weston raised his gun after getting out of his car, which he’d parked on the Piscataqua Bridge that connects New Hampshire and Maine. The police shooting happened after failed attempts by law enforcement to negotiate with Trent Weston, officials said.
Police said Friday they hadn’t determined a motive for the violence. Investigations were continuing in Maine and New Hampshire.
The tragedy began with police in New Hampshire going to the Weston home and discovering Brittany Weston’s body after her husband called 911 to report that they’d argued and that she was dead. It ended about 100 miles (160 kilometers) away on the Interstate 95 bridge between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Kittery, Maine.
The Coast Guard recovered Trent Weston’s body from the Piscataqua River.
The Portland Press Herald reported that police scanner traffic indicated Trent Weston tossed a box off the bridge before he was killed, but a state police spokesperson had no comment on that on Friday.
The bridge was closed for about seven hours before reopening. Between 70,000 and 80,000 vehicles use the Piscataqua bridge each day, according to the Maine Department of Transportation.