In the days and weeks after the New Hampshire Hospital shooting last November, much information about the gunman emerged.

John Madore had a history of schizophrenia and had previously been treated in a hospital. New Hampshire HospitalA state-run psychiatric facility. Madore was transient, staying in hotels but in regular contact with loved ones.

An investigation by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office revealed that Madore purchased the gun he used to kill Bradley Haas, a security guard working in the hospital lobby, from a licensed firearms dealer. he was banned from owning a gun due to past psychiatric problems.

attorney general reportThat document, released in August, also outlined Madore’s whereabouts that day before pulling a rented U-Haul loaded with additional weapons and ammunition into the hospital parking lot. The investigative report included still images and a detailed timeline, but the state refused to release any video footage, despite its long practice of doing so at the conclusion of its investigations into officer-involved shootings.

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NHPR recently received five videos from the state showing angles from both the inside and outside of the hospital lobby, including bird’s-eye views showing the main entrance, security desk and much of the lobby. Portions of the video have been edited or blurred; The province said the decision was made to protect the privacy interests of the families involved.

We sought the footage through a Right to Know request with two main goals: To better understand what happened that day and to see what, if anything, could have been done differently. Second, trying to understand what changes can be made to improve security.

Here’s what we learned.

What do the videos show?

The main video shot from inside the lobby is approximately 30 minutes in length.

Jeff Czarnec, one of two experts NHPR asked to review the footage, served 23 years on law enforcement in Manchester and now teaches criminal justice at Southern New Hampshire University.

He noted that the lobby’s layout was attractive and bright, which is important for a psychiatric facility, but that metal detectors near the entrance could be easily bypassed.

“It’s great to have these in place,” Czarnec said. “But they’re not necessarily a deterrent to someone who wants to do harm.”

That’s clearly what Madore wanted to do.

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The video shows him leaving the parking lot wearing black pants, a flannel shirt and a vest. It moves fast. As soon as he enters the lobby through the sliding glass doors, he puts his right hand into his right pocket and pulls out his gun, without breaking any steps.

“He came right in and was fully prepared. I don’t even think he had both feet in there when he started shooting,” Czarnec said.

In the video, security guard Bradley Haas is seen standing at the table next to the metal detector and looking at his phone. He doesn’t have time to look up before he’s shot.

“It’s a matter of seconds. No preparation, no warning,” Czarnec said.

Haas was a 28-year veteran of the Franklin Police Department, rising to the rank of chief. He had been employed as a security guard at New Hampshire Hospital for over three years, since retiring from that position.

Questions then arose as to why someone in this position (with this level of experience) was not armed. The day after the shooting, reporters asked Attorney General John Formella about this and he said: “It is not normal for this position to be armed and provide security in the front lobby.”

During this year’s legislative session, a bipartisan bill sought to close a perceived gap in the background check reporting system Madore benefited from to purchase the gun.

Speaking on the House floor, Republican state Rep. J.R. Hoell said the problem did not arise from the state’s gun laws, but rather that Haas did not carry a gun to protect himself or others that day.

“So why wasn’t the person on duty at the security booth and at the metal detector carrying a personal firearm that day?” he asked.

There is no national consensus on whether armed security guards are appropriate for acute psychiatric facilities. But this video from last November makes clear that gun ownership may not have saved Bradley Haas that day.

“Even if he was armed, there aren’t a lot of precautions that would have prevented what we saw (that day),” said Brian Higgins, who teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and also oversees the hospital. Security footage at NHPR’s request. “It’s almost like he doesn’t stand a chance.”

A state trooper confronts gunman

After shooting Haas, Madore walks around the lobby and shoots at the bulletproof windows, but this part of the video has been redacted. The attorney general explained in his report that Madore eventually fired again while Haas was on the ground.

However, the next door of the hospital is locked. Madore was actually prevented from entering the building further.

About 22 seconds after Madore fired the first shot, state trooper Nathan Sleight can be seen on the right side of the frame. He opened the door of an office connected to the lobby he was in when gunshots rang out.

Madore sees him but continues to reload his gun. Sleight ordered Madore to drop the gun, but there is no audio recording from the lobby, according to the report.

Sleight then opens fire from a protected position.

“The soldier there does all the right things because of the training: hiding and hiding,” Czarnec said.

Madore falls to the ground injured and leans against a wall. Yet he continues to move his hands as he tries to reload.

Sleight fires a second time: the barrel flashes in rapid succession.

“Then he fires again to make sure the threat is over,” Higgins said. “So I have no problem with that. Actually, it’s a good tactic.”

Sleight fired 11 shots in total and emptied his magazine. The attorney general will then decide that the use of force was justified; Both experts we asked to review these images agreed with this conclusion.

Just seconds after Madore is shot, the glass sliding doors to the sidewalk reopen. A man enters the lobby. The report would later identify this person as a patient of the hospital. He can be seen walking towards Madore and then towards Haas. Sleight quickly takes him out.

In the video, Sleight runs to his cruiser, which he parked out front, to get more ammunition; he then runs out of the lobby a second time to get his bulletproof vest.

Within minutes, Concord police officers and more state troopers arrived on scene.

They provide protection as Haas, covered in blood, is carried out of the lobby and taken to nearby Concord Hospital, where he later dies.

Madore died at the scene.

A resilient staff member remembers a colleague

The number of patients at New Hampshire Hospital on the day of the shooting was 153. There were dozens of doctors, nurses and other staff in the building. According to footage reviewed by NHPR, 13 people passed through the hospital lobby in the five minutes before the shooting.

By sheer luck, the lobby was empty except for the security guard when Madore walked in.

“It’s really a wonderful thing that despite the tragedy, it was confined to this area, and it really could have been a lot worse than it was,” Ellen Lapointe, CEO of New Hampshire Hospital, said during a tour of the lobby recently. .

Following the conflict, changes were made to the way staff and visitors entered the building. For example, sliding glass doors facing from the outside no longer automatically open into the lobby.

This will theoretically slow down anyone who wants to do harm.

Now everyone needs a badge or has to check in to get in. An armed law enforcement officer is now on duty in the lobby during visitor hours.

Next January, a major construction project currently in the works will completely overhaul the entrance and traffic flow.

But for now this is the area the Main entry and exit point for staff.

Every day they pass by the place where their colleague Bradley Haas was killed.

Lapointe says it’s been a tough year.

“There was tremendous resilience on the part of the staff and a really great focus on patient care, as well as honoring Brad’s memory and really remembering him as a positive, kind, helpful gentleman,” Lapointe said. “And I try not to focus on the tragedies that happen here.”