Ryan Brouillard, a Franklin resident with a long history of arrests and incarceration, continued to elude city and state police Wednesday after an hourslong manhunt in and around the downtown area. As of late Wednesday, police said he was still on the run and likely to be in the area, and he was considered armed and dangerous.
Police identified Brouillard, 33, of 21 Pleasant St., as the main suspect in an early morning incident in the Prospect Street area. Franklin police Chief David Goldstein said police got a call about a domestic altercation at 2:15 a.m. When police arrived, Brouillard allegedly fired a gun and fled the scene on foot. Details about the initial incident have not been released.
According to the Franklin Police Department’s Facebook page, an active warrant was out for Brouillard at the time of the incident for violating parole for being a habitual offender of motor vehicle laws.
Multiple Franklin streets were blocked off throughout the day, and residents in the area of Prospect, Pleasant and Oak streets were urged to remain indoors while authorities pursued Brouillard. The search later expanded into the areas of Myrtle Street, Thunder Road and Cross Mill Road.
Goldstein, speaking through news reporters posting on social media, urged Brouillard to surrender peacefully and stop scaring the public.
Injuries occurred, Goldstein said, though he declined to release details on who was injured and the nature of the injuries. He said “serious charges” are forthcoming for Brouillard, although he didn’t say exactly what the charges would be.
Brouillard is described as a white male, 6 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 250 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue hoodie, according to Franklin police.
Goldstein said he hoped Brouillard would give himself up peacefully after seeing the coverage of the search on social media.
“We’re hoping through you guys and social media that he’ll see we want to do this peacefully, sincerely,” he said. “He has to know he’s scaring the public, and that’s our main concern.” Goldstein said if the situation continues and people are afraid to return to their homes, living accommodations will be made.
But Robin Kingsley, who has lived on Prospect Street for 18 years, said she stayed home because incidents like this “happen every now and then” in Franklin. She also said she knew Brouillard from when he went to high school with her daughter, and while she knows that Brouillard has been in trouble with police, she hopes the situation will end without further violence.
Kinsgley said Brouillard used to shovel their driveway years ago when it snowed, and that she had a hard time imagining him hurting anyone. She said she had not been in touch with Brouillard for the last 12 years because she believed he had moved away, although her daughter is friends with him on social media.
Kingsley went on to say she hoped nothing happened to him because he has two children, a son believed to be 11, and a daughter who is about 2 years old.
“I just hope they don’t kill him,” she said. “I hope they can just get him and put him where he needs to be, because I think he needs help.”
But Kingsley, who said she was woken up by helicopters about 3 a.m., did not feel the police presence, which was still in place in the afternoon, was necessary, because she suspected Brouillard might have escaped early in the morning. She noted that Cross Mill Road intersects with the Winnipesaukee River Trail in Northfield, which she said he could have used to escape the scene.
Brouillard has an extensive criminal history in New Hampshire that includes dozens of criminal cases dating back to 2001, when he turned 18.
He is on parole following a conviction in Belknap County for operating after being deemed a habitual offender of motor vehicle laws in May 2014. He served 147 days for the crime and additional time for two parole violations. Authorities say he recently violated his parole for a third time on that charge, and as a result a warrant for his arrest was issued Dec. 22.
He has an earlier conviction in Merrimack County for the same crime. He received a one- to two-year sentence, with credit for 242 days already served. He was admitted to the state prison in September 2012 and paroled in January 2013.
He also has past convictions in the region for aggravated driving while intoxicated, disobeying an officer, reckless conduct, criminal mischief, resisting arrest, simple assault and lower-level drug charges.
Brouillard has also had domestic violence petitions taken out against him, including by his then-girlfriend in a civil case opened in 2013.
He was last seen at a residence on Chaisson Road in Plymouth prior to the incident Wednesday morning in Franklin, according to the Plymouth Police Department’s Facebook page.
The SWAT team and state police, along with the state’s K-9 units, could be seen at various locations in town throughout the day, and a helicopter could be seen circling the area. Area police departments, including Boscawen, Bristol, Alexandria and Danbury were called in to assist. Goldstein said about 11:30 a.m. that federal units were being called in to assist in the search.
A warming station was opened at the Bessie Rowell Community Center for anyone looking to take shelter, Goldstein said. A visit to the center revealed it had been open from about 8:30 a.m. to noon after no one took shelter.
The New Hampshire/Vermont Red Cross said it has responded to the situation and is supporting first responders and families with water, food and blankets.
Prospect Street was closed off to traffic until about 3 p.m., with state police’s BearCat blocking the road.
Goldstein said the K-9 and helicopter search was suspended as night fell, although police would continue to work in the area throughout the night. He said the search going forward would have to rely on interviews and communication to try to get Brouillard to come in.
“We’ve been contacted by his father asking how he could help, and we just told him to bring himself in quietly and maturely,” he said.
Goldstein went on to say that while social media has been helpful during the search, it has also spread misinformation, such as that a police officer was shot. Rumors also included that Brouillard was in custody, which earned Goldstein a text from Franklin’s mayor, Ken Merrifield.
“I had to tell him, ‘I’m sorry, mayor, we don’t have him,’ ” he said
(Monitor reporter Alyssa Dandrea contributed to this report. Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com, or on Twitter at @ActualCAndrews.)