The investigation into a shooting involving an off-duty Peterborough police officer over the weekend will evaluate whether it was an act of self-defense.
The off-duty officer, who has not been named by authorities yet, was hospitalized with incised stab wounds, and 24-year-old Peterborough resident Jack Hutchings was found dead from gunshot wounds outside a Grove Street residence on Sunday evening. The property is owned by Douglas MacPherson, who joined the Peterborough Police Department in May 2025.
The officer returned home from the hospital on Tuesday, accompanied by a procession of law enforcement officers from around the region.
The attorney general’s office and the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit are investigating Hutchings’ death. These two agencies are in charge of reviewing all police-involved shootings and use of deadly force by law enforcement officers in the line of duty to determine whether they are legally justified in their actions.
New Hampshire is one of many states that have a “stand your ground” law, which allows the use of deadly force in a life-threatening situation and removes any responsibility to retreat from attack when it’s safe to do so.
New Hampshire law RSA 627:4 allows the use of deadly force when one person is about to use deadly force against someone else. It covers other scenarios too, like using deadly force against an burglar, rapist or kidnapper.
“Judges instruct the jury that if a person acted reasonably — like they reasonably believe they’re facing an imminent unlawful [deadly] force, they need to defend themselves — then they have a right to self-defense, even if they’re wrong, even if they actually misunderstood the situation,” said Ted Lothstein, a defense attorney in Concord.
The use of deadly force has to be proportionate to the threat, Lothstein said. For example, you can’t shoot someone in retaliation for a slap.
“If someone does a mugging, holds you up on a street at knifepoint, then you can take out a gun and if they don’t run away, you can shoot them,” Lothstein said. “I’m not saying that you’re automatically not guilty, but I’m saying you’ll be able to claim self-defense, and you’ll be able to justify the use of deadly force because the person holding the knife is threatening deadly force against you.”
Authorities have declined to release more information about the people involved and the manner of death, citing the ongoing investigation.
So far, officials have called the shooting an “untimely death” as opposed to a suspicious death or homicide.
Hutchings’ death will not be investigated as an officer-involved shooting, however, because the Peterborough police officer was not on duty at the time, said Michael Garrity, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office.
Garrity said Hutchings’ family has been notified about his death, but as of Wednesday morning, he said, the attorney general’s office will not share the autopsy results publicly until the family has received them. The autopsy was completed on Monday.
“It’s not uncommon for, once people have learned something terrible, sometimes it can be challenging to get back hold of them, you know, in the hours to follow,” Garrity said.
The attorney general’s office also has not named the off-duty officer who was involved. Investigators typically do not name people involved in a shooting until they are interviewed, a practice consistent with how they treat victims of crimes and not suspects.
