The Attorney General’s report into a police sergeant’s deadly use of force against a 17-year-old in a mental health crisis gave a look at how quickly events unfolded inside the Gilford home on Jan. 1, 2023.

At 9:52 p.m. on New Year’s Day, dispatchers received a 911 call from Mischa Fay’s mother seeking assistance for her son, described as being “in a rage,” armed with a knife. She also explained that her son was experiencing a “breakdown” and had “just snapped.” Mischa’s behavior had become erratic at the end of the day. His mother told the officers her son’s mood had been “absolutely fine for weeks and weeks.”

At the time of the call, Mischa’s mother had locked her husband in the home office for his safety and left the house.

Within 4 minutes of the call, at 9:56 p.m., both officers Sergeant Douglas Wall and Officer Nathan Ayotte arrived at the Fay residence on Varney Point Road in their cruisers. Both were equipped with body cameras that recorded the incident.

Footage from the body cameras showed that officers met Mischa’s mother in the driveway before she lead them to the basement door entrance.

Despite Sergeant Wall’s request for Mischa’s mother to wait outside, she closely trailed behind them.

Officers enter the Fay residence

As the officers make their way up the stairs with their flashlights turned on Officer Ayotte says “I have Taser” to which Sergeant Wall replies, “I got lethal.”

Then they make their presence known to Mischa.

“Mischa, Gilford Police Department, Mischa.”

“Where are you at?”

“Make yourself known.”

Upon reaching the top of the basement stairs and not finding Mischa, they once again call out to him.

Not seeing Mischa in the living room, the officers shifted their attention towards the dining room. Maneuvering around a dining table, they positioned themselves at the entrance of the kitchen after hearing a noise in that direction.

Mischa approaches the officers

Both officers make their way to the kitchen entrance and within six seconds Mischa emerges from the dining room doorway connected to the family room dressed in a green T-shirt and pajamas.

He is seen holding a kitchen knife in his right hand, its blade nearly eight inches long, pointing outward and downward.

“Put your hands up!” Wall ordered as Ayotte turned on the flashlight of his TASER. Without saying a word, Mischa continued to make his way towards the officers.

Wall, positioned just eight feet away from Mischa, fired his 9mm pistol, while simultaneously, Ayotte deployed his stun gun. The device failed to make complete contact with Mischa but the fatal shot had already been fired.

After being hit, Mischa immediately fell to his knees and dropped the knife.

Video from the scene shows the pistol and Taser fired at nearly the same time.

“I say near simultaneously because it is almost impossible to discern the difference,” said Benjamin Agati, chief of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office Homicide Unit, at a press briefing on Thursday after watching the video nearly 80 times.

According to the autopsy results, Mischa Fay’s cause of death was a single gunshot that struck him in the chest just below the collar. The report further indicates that Mischa was only visible for four seconds before both officers discharged their weapons.

Medical help was requested and Mischa was taken to the Laconia campus of Concord Hospital for treatment and he was later pronounced dead.

Sergeant Douglas Wall, who shot Fay, “reasonably believed that deadly force was required to defend him and others around him from what he reasonably believed to be the use of deadly force by Mischa,” said Agati.

If you need help

NH Rapid Response Access Point: Call or Text 833-7100-6477 for free and immediate, 24/7 access to mental health and/or substance use crisis support via telephone, text and chat services.National

Suicide Prevention Lifeline: If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

Veterans: Veterans and their loved ones can call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, chat online, or send a text message to 838255 to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Support for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals is available.

Crisis Text Line: Free, 24/7 support for those in crisis. Text 741741 from anywhere in the U.S. to text a trained Crisis Counselor.