Police say man shot wife, son multiple times before dying on bridge between Maine, N.H. (2024)

Police are continuing to investigate the deaths of three people from the same family – both parents and their son – a day after the father was killed by police on the highway bridge connecting Maine and New Hampshire.

The man shot multiple times by police on the Piscataqua River Bridge was identified Friday afternoon as 37-year-old Trent Weston of Troy, New Hampshire. Police say it appears Weston killed his wife, Brittany Weston, 37, and their 8-year-old son, Benson Weston. Brittany was found dead in the couple’s home and Benson was found dead in his father’s car, killed before the standoff with police on the bridge.

A statement from the New Hampshire Department of Justice said that as of Friday “all evidence indicates that Mr. Weston is responsible for the deaths of both Brittany and Benson Weston.”

The family had recently moved to Troy from Tennessee, said Michael S. Garrity, director of communications for the New Hampshire Department of Justice. Troy is a town of about 2,100 people located 10 miles southeast of Keene, in New Hampshire’s southwest corner. Authorities have not said why Trent Weston might have been driving to Maine.

After Weston was shot and fell from the bridge, officers found his son shot to death in Weston’s car. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Benson Weston died of multiple gunshot wounds and ruled the death a homicide, said Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Brittany Weston died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head and her death was ruled a homicide by the New Hampshire Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Police found her in the family’s home after getting a call from Trent Weston saying he had shot his wife, according to the New Hampshire Department of Justice. The investigation into her death involves both Maine and New Hampshire state police.

A Facebook page for Brittany Weston, which mentions both Trent Weston and Benson, has little information about the family. There’s a photo of a man and a woman standing in a field, both holding a young boy in their arms. There’s also a post from May 10, 2021, by Brittany Weston of a video with the heading “Benson wanted to make a video ‘for the mothers out there.’ ” The video shows a young, blonde-haired boy with a toy guitar singing.

Someone at the Troy Pizza Barn who responded to a question about the Westons said the family had only lived in town for about a month or so, and they did not know them. The home where police found Brittany Weston is at 359 Monadnock St., in a rural area east of the town center.

Police said during a news conference Thursday that Trent Weston called 911 around 2 a.m. and told a York dispatcher that he was involved in a fight with his wife at their home in Troy and that she was dead. New Hampshire State Police found her body at the house, which is about 100 miles from the bridge, around 3 a.m.

Kittery police found Weston’s vehicle parked in the southbound lanes of the six-lane bridge around 2:30 a.m. and reported that he got out of his car holding a handgun and threw a cardboard box into the river. Law enforcement shut down the bridge and attempted to negotiate with him for several hours, police said.

Craig Nilsen, a Maine state trooper, and two New Hampshire state troopers “responded with deadly force” after the man raised his firearm, police said. The names of the New Hampshire troopers will not be released until after they are formally interviewed, officials said.

Garrity said late Friday that the investigation was ongoing and his department would have no further update.

All of the troopers involved have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard protocol after police shootings. The police shooting is being investigated by the Maine Attorney General’s Office, Moss said.