Two of three Belmont officers who fired their weapons in last weekend’s deadly shooting were involved in similar incidents in recent years.

The officer-involved shooting that killed Michael Sheehan II is the third to have occurred in the rural community in less than three years. Two of the shootings were deadly.

Belmont police Sgt. Evan Boulanger, Officer Patrick Riley and Officer Christopher Kloetz fired during the altercation with Sheehan, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office said Friday afternoon. Boulanger and Riley were involved in separate officer-involved shootings in the town in 2017 and 2016 respectively.

Authorities have not said what transpired on the night of June 15 on South Road in Belmont, including what led the officers to shoot and how many times each one fired.

An autopsy by the state medical examiner concluded that Sheehan, 45, of Northfield died from multiple gunshot wounds to his torso in a homicide.

“The exact circumstances surrounding this incident remain under active investigation,” Deputy Attorney General Jane Young and New Hampshire State Police Col. Christopher Wagner said in a joint statement Friday. “A report regarding whether the use of force was justified will be released once the investigation is completed. No further updates are expected until the report is released.”

The Laconia Daily Sun reported that Northfield police issued a BOLO or “be on the lookout” alert for a car belonging to someone sought in connection with a domestic dispute earlier in the evening. A Belmont police officer reportedly spotted the suspect vehicle and pulled it over just prior to the shooting.

On the same road where officers stopped Sheehan last weekend, Riley attempted to make a motor vehicle stop in the fall of 2016. The stop quickly escalated and Riley fired his pistol multiple times in a shooting later ruled “unreasonable” by the county attorney.

Riley flicked his blue lights on to pull over what he deemed was a suspicious car on South Road that October and learned that the driver, Hayden Moon of Gilmanton, had an active electronic bench warrant. As the two talked, Riley opened the driver’s side door and tried to arrest Moon. In response, Moon suddenly shifted the car and accelerated, catching Riley between the door and the car. Riley later told state police that he was dragged about 100 feet.

Once free, Riley fired five shots from his pistol but none of them hit Moon or the vehicle. Moon’s car was later located in Loudon and a warrant issued for his arrest.

Belknap County Attorney Melissa Guldbrandsen investigated the incident and determined that the use of deadly force was not justified and that his “actions were not clearly reasonable.” However, she chose not to file criminal charges against Riley, finding that the case would be difficult to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.

The investigation of the June 15 shooting in this town of about 7,000 comes nearly two years after it was under the microscope when Boulanger, a corporal at the time, shot a man at a busy Irving gas station. Boulanger was trying to arrest Joseph Mazzitelli Jr., 46, of Belmont, who responded by grabbing a gun out of a Honda Accord.

The Attorney General’s office ultimately cleared Boulanger for shooting Mazzitelli who simultaneously shot himself in the head on the afternoon of Sept. 30, 2017. The bullets from Boulanger’s gun penetrated Mazzitelli’s chest, but the fatal shot was fired from Mazzitelli’s own .40-caliber Smith & Wesson, the state medical examiner concluded.

Mazzitelli and Sheehan were no strangers to police; they’d had numerous brushes with the law that included a documented history of domestic violence.

Court records show that two women requested restraining orders against Mazzitelli, dating back to the late 1990s. His criminal record included convictions for criminal trespass, criminal mischief, driving while intoxicated and other motor vehicle infractions. He was accused of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman in Gilmanton and faced several charges in that case at the time of his death.

Sheehan’s criminal record in New Hampshire dates back to the early 1990s. He faced primarily misdemeanor-level offenses, as well as drunk driving charges and motor vehicle violations. In more recent years, his crimes escalated to include criminal threatening and domestic violence. According to family court records, an ex-girlfriend and an ex-wife were separately granted emergency domestic violence protective orders against Sheehan.

(Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319 or at adandrea@cmonitor.com.)