Franklin NH Shooting – The suspect in a shooting incident that left two people dead and another injured Saturday has been found dead by police. New Hampshire State Police and Franklin police spent about six hours searching for Jamie Bell, 42, of Franklin, after a shooting inside a home on Elkins Street. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office reported around 6 p.m. he was located. Around noon, Franklin police were sent to a multi-family on Elkins Street near Edmunds Street for a report of a shooting. Fire and rescue teams, as well as, state troopers, arrived later and assisted in setting up a perimeter around the city. State police helicopters were also reportedly helping with the search of the suspect.
The state police’s major crime unit arrived at the residence at just before 3 p.m. Around 5:30 p.m., state officials requested assistance finding Bell, calling him “armed and dangerous.” About 30 minutes later, he was found deceased by police. “At this point,” Michael Garrity, a public information officer for the attorney general’s office, “there is no known threat to the general public.” Bell has a criminal history dating back about 15 years.
In March 2008, in Merrimack, he was arrested on felony burglary, driving under the influence, criminal mischief, obstructing a report of crime or injury, and multiple simple assault charges, eventually pleading guilty to all the charges in December 2008. About a decade later, Bell had relocated to the Lakes Region. He was arrested on a felony criminal mischief charge in Laconia in October 2017. A few months later, he pleaded guilty, and served six days in jail and paid a nearly $4,000 fine.
In November 2018, Bell was brought up on 18 charges connected to two separate cases. The first involved driving after revocation or suspension, unauthorized use, two criminal mischief, and four felony reckless conduct-deadly weapon charges. In the second case, he was charged with two controlled drug: acts prohibited charges and eight felon in possession of a dangerous weapon charges, all felonies, and pleaded guilty to a single drug count and three of the weapon counts in January 2019. The other charges were nolle prossed. Bell was sentenced to 18 months in prison with two months time served. In the first case, he pleaded to six reckless conduct charges and received a suspended sentence. All the other charges were dropped.