BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A police officer from the town of Reading has been indicted for manslaughter in connection with the fatal shooting of man in 2018.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan's office said a Middlesex County Grand Jury indicted officer Erik Drauschke on one charge of manslaughter on Wednesday.

According to an investigation, multiple Reading Police officers responded to a mixed-use gas station and service location on Main Street, where there are also two residential apartments, for an alleged domestic assault on February 3rd, 2018.

The assault had reportedly been committed by a resident, 43 year-old Alan Greenough, upon two other residents. Officers had also responded to that same location for similar allegations involving Greenough and the same two victims on the previous night.

When police responded on the afternoon of February 3, Ryan's office said they intended to not only investigate the current allegations, but also to arrest Mr. Greenough for the incident that had occurred the prior evening.

When they arrived at the residence, police allegedly learned that Greenough had locked himself in his apartment. Officers had discussions through the locked doors and windows with him, allegedly pleading with him to surrender to them peacefully.

Police said he was agitated and, at one point, had an approximately three foot-long broken table leg in his hands as he yelled from a window to them.

Greenough was eventually able to leave by climbing out a back window of his apartment. Once the officers saw the open window, they began to set up a perimeter search of the area. Officer Erik Drauschke began to search the south portion of the property, which consisted of numerous parked cars in varying states of repair.

Drauschke allegedly saw a man fitting Greenough’s description sitting in a car parked in this area. The car doors were closed, and the vehicle was parked in a way that it could not have been able to be utilized to flee the scene. The officer allegedly approached the vehicle alone and did not wait for assistance even though other police officers were in close proximity.

Ryan's office said Greenough is not alleged to have made any attempt to flee, or to make any threatening gestures towards the officer while he was in the vehicle. Officer Drauschke then opened the car door, took out his service firearm, as he ordered Greenough out of the car.

Greenough allegedly exited the car with both of his hands inside his sweatshirt pocket, and allegedly came quickly toward the defendant, refusing to take his hands out of his pockets and yelling, “...Shoot me, shoot me…”. Drauschke allegedly began to back up, then fired twice, striking Greenough in the chest.

Greenough was unarmed and a search of the area did not yield any weapons. He was transported from the scene and died as a result of his injuries.

Reading Town Manager Robert W. LeLacheur Jr said Drauschke was placed on paid administrative leave since the Feb. 3, 2018 incident, consistent with the department's collective bargaining agreement, but the leave has been changed to unpaid pending the outcome of the court proceedings.

"The Reading Police Department has cooperated fully with the district attorney's investigation over the past two-and-a-half years, and the agency will continue to cooperate fully," Reading Police Chief David Clark said.

Drauschke has been employed by the Reading Police Department since Sept. 2006. He will be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court at a date that has not yet been scheduled.

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