Bodycam released of a deadly shootout with officers and suspect outside of Springfield MGM casino
By: 0:00 - Body cam 1
8:34 - Shooting
4:19 - Body cam 2
6:27 - Shooting
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William Tisdol died of a single bullet wound to the chest after firing five shots at local and state police on Feb. 25 outside MGM Springfield, according to an investigation by the Hampden District Attorney’s office.
It all began with an argument at a poker table in the middle of the night, video from the downtown casino showed. Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni on Friday presented the fruits of a weeks-long investigation into Tisdol’s death, including jarring footage from body-worn police cameras.
Gulluni concluded the shooting was justified and criminal charges against the troopers who shot Tisdol are not warranted.
“I have an obligation that, in this instance, requires me and my team, to investigate and evaluate the cirstances of a death,” Gulluni said. “I must do so in an objective, transparent, and clinical fashion. This duty is highly significant to many people, including a family that lost a loved one, the law enforcement officers involved, and the community at large.”
Tisdol, of Hartford, Connecticut, got into an argument with another MGM patron around 2 a.m., surveillance video showed. The other man asked Tisdol to sit out on a hand, angering Tisdol. He left the poker table and returned minutes later, fueling the argument and telling the other man he had a gun and intended to shoot him.
“Meet me in the garage,” Tisdol told the man, who informed casino security and state troopers about the threat, prompting troopers and a Springfield police officer to follow Tisdol outside. Tisdol had one hand stuffed in his pocket and walked, then ran from police who were ordering him to stop.
You’re going to get tased!” one of the troopers shouted. Tisdol looked over his shoulder in response.
“Mr. Tisdol then turned around with a firearm in his right hand and fired several shots directly at Trooper Cusack,” Gulluni said, referring to Thomas Cusack, one of two troopers involved in the pursuit.
Another trooper returned fire. Tisdol continued to fire back, the video shows. The footage also shows a muzzle flash from Tisdol’s gun.
“Careful review of the city of Springfield cameras and body worn camera conclusively show that Mr. Tisdol quickly turns to Trooper Cusack and fires at him as he pointed his taser at him and prior to (another trooper) firing his weapon,” Gulluni said.
Tisdol ducks around a corner and briefly disappears from view. Police follow him and find him lying in some shrubbery on Main Street.
“You got me,” Tisdol says, adding that he doesn’t have the gun anymore.
Cusack calls for a medical bag, while other officers recover a 9 mm Taurus PT111 semi-automatic pistol on the sidewalk, with eight rounds left in the gun.
“Five, 9 mm shell casings were found on the sidewalk of Main Street. Massachusetts State Police ballisticians determined that they were fired from Mr. Tisdol’s Taurus firearm,” Gulluni said.
Tisdol was taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center, where he died just after 3 a.m.