It was barely 4:30 in the morning when the quiet on South Mammoth Road shattered. Most of Manchester was still asleep, tucked away in that deep, pre-dawn silence. But near Green Acres Elementary School, things were getting chaotic. Fast. Honestly, when you hear about a shooting in Manchester NH today, you expect it to be in a high-traffic area or a known hotspot, not a residential street where families usually feel safe walking their dogs.
But that's where we are.
Police were called to check out a "suspicious vehicle" idling in the school area. This wasn't just a routine stop. Within minutes, a pursuit started, a car crashed, and a 24-year-old man named Nickenley Turenne was dead. People are angry. Some are scared. And everyone has questions about how a report of a parked car turned into a fatal encounter with three Manchester police officers.
The timeline of the South Mammoth Road shooting
The details are still trickling out, but the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office has been somewhat transparent about the sequence of events. At 4:43 a.m., officers found Turenne and a female passenger asleep in a car. When the police woke them up, Turenne allegedly hit the gas. He fled at a high rate of speed, leading police on a chase that ended when he crashed his vehicle into a fence behind a house at 293 South Mammoth Road.
He didn't stay with the car.
He ran.
A foot pursuit followed through the backyards and driveways of this quiet neighborhood. Then, the "encounter" happened. That’s the word the AG uses. "Encounter." In this specific encounter, three officers—later identified as Brandon Baliko, Andre Chan, and Devin Lambert—fired their duty pistols. Turenne was hit multiple times. While police say life-saving measures were attempted, he later died at the hospital.
💡 You might also like: Wisconsin Judicial Elections 2025: Why This Race Broke Every Record
What the neighbors are saying
If you talk to the people who live right there, the story feels more visceral. A neighbor named Bill told reporters he heard about seven shots. Seven. That’s a lot of lead in a neighborhood full of kids. Another resident, Rick Smith, described hearing "muffled pops" and then just silence.
There's a vigil there now.
A wooden cross sits in the snow.
The family is devastated. Turenne’s father mentioned his son was working at FedEx and trying to better his life after moving from Massachusetts. His lawyer and the woman who was in the car with him have been vocal: they claim he was unarmed. No weapon was recovered at the scene. That's a massive detail that changes the entire conversation around whether the use of deadly force was justified.
Body cams and the investigation process
One thing that might actually give us real answers is the technology. The Attorney General, John M. Formella, confirmed that multiple officers were wearing body cameras. The footage exists. It recorded the moments before, during, and after the shots were fired.
But we haven't seen it yet.
📖 Related: Casey Ramirez: The Small Town Benefactor Who Smuggled 400 Pounds of Cocaine
The New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit is currently leading the investigation. This is standard procedure—local police don't investigate their own fatal shootings. The names of the officers involved were released about two weeks after the incident, once their formal interviews were done.
- Officer Brandon Baliko: One year on the force.
- Officer Andre Chan: One and a half years of service.
- Officer Devin Lambert: Nearly two years with the department.
Basically, you have three relatively young officers in a high-pressure, late-night pursuit. Did that play a role? We don't know yet. The AG’s office is still reviewing the evidence to determine if the shooting was "legally justified." That report could take months. New Hampshire isn't exactly known for rushing these things.
The broader context of crime in Manchester
Lately, Manchester has felt a bit on edge. Just yesterday, a pursuit starting in Londonderry ended in a standoff on I-293 that shut down the highway for hours. A woman from Merrimack was arrested for reckless conduct with a deadly weapon. It feels like these high-speed chases are becoming a weekly occurrence.
When people search for information on a shooting in Manchester NH today, they’re often looking for safety updates. Is there a shooter on the loose? No. In this case, the scene was secured almost immediately. But the tension in the community remains. People are tired of the sirens. They’re tired of the yellow tape near schools.
Misconceptions and the "Unarmed" debate
There is a lot of talk on social media about whether Turenne was a threat. The police haven't explicitly said he had a gun, but they haven't said he didn't have something that made them fear for their lives. The legal standard for "justified" force in New Hampshire is whether a reasonable officer would have believed their life or the lives of others were in imminent danger.
It’s a gray area.
👉 See also: Lake Nyos Cameroon 1986: What Really Happened During the Silent Killer’s Release
If he was truly unarmed, the department is going to face an uphill battle with public trust. Especially since the passenger was reportedly held at gunpoint on the ground for nearly an hour after the shooting happened. That’s a long time to be staring at a barrel when you’re just the passenger in a car.
What happens next?
The investigation is still "active and ongoing." That’s the official line. For the rest of us, it means waiting for the final report from the Department of Justice.
If you're living in the South Mammoth Road area or are just concerned about the general safety in the city, here is the current status of things you should know:
The Manchester Police Department is continuing to cooperate with the State Police. The body camera footage will eventually be part of the public record, but usually only after the AG issues the final report. If you have information or saw something that morning, the Major Crime Unit is still looking for witnesses.
The city is also seeing a push for better training regarding "suspicious vehicle" calls, which often escalate quickly when drivers panic. For now, the best thing to do is stay informed through official DOJ press releases rather than neighborhood rumor mills. The neighborhood near Green Acres is open, the roads are clear, and there is no ongoing threat to the public.
Keep an eye on the New Hampshire DOJ news portal for the release of the final justification report, which will include the full narrative of the "encounter" and potentially the release of the body camera video.