Malden cop cleared in officer-involved shooting of armed robbery suspect

A Malden police officer who shot a man accused of punching and robbing a woman will not face criminal charges, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced Friday.

On the morning of May 22, Malden police Officer Amanda Grenier shot Dominique Long, 31, of Malden, while responding to the incident. Ryan’s office said a thorough review found that Grenier’s actions do not warrant charges.

Grenier was one of multiple officers to respond to an altercation at 260 Eastern Ave. involving Long and a 43-year-old woman. According to prosecutors, Long allegedly threw a cup at the woman, who had been walking nearby, before punching her in the head. 

Following the alleged assault, the victim attempted to record Long with an iPad, but Long allegedly took the device and pulled a knife on her, according to officials.

Prosecutors say Long kept walking on Eastern Avenue and threatened another person with a knife. Both victims called 911 and told dispatchers that Long had a knife. 

Grenier arrived on the scene and attempted to talk to Long, but he wouldn’t comply with police orders to put down the items he was carrying, according to officials.

“The suspect then dropped his possessions, pulled a kitchen-style knife from his pants pocket, and advanced on Officer Cameron Selfridge, one of the responding officers,” Ryan’s office said in a news release. “Police deployed less-than-lethal Tasers that were ineffective. Since the suspect continued to advance, Officer Amanda Grenier fired her weapon and struck the suspect.”

Long was treated at a nearby hospital and then charged with armed robbery, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, intimidation of a witness, and assault and battery.

Ryan’s office said the investigation found that Grenier was “reasonable in her belief that there existed imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm to Officer Cameron Selfridge and no other means, except that used, would have prevented such harm.”