MANCHESTER, NH — Akwasi Owusu, laid in wait with a knife hidden in his left hand by his side, as three Manchester police officers burst into his bedroom three years ago, according to a prosecutor.
“It was his design to strike them and kill them,” Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Jonathan Raiche told a jury Monday morning in his opening statement. “When you stab somebody in the chest, that’s an attempt to bring about murder.”
Luckily, he said, nobody died.
Officers Brendan Langton and Olivia LaCroix were both stabbed under their arms that Feb. 2, 2020 afternoon inside 6 Ahern St. According to the prosecutor, the knife went through the officers’ uniforms and protective vests, indicative of the amount of force Owusu allegedly used.
Officer Kevin Shields suffered a one-inch slice wound across his forehead requiring three stitches to close. Langton was the most seriously injured of the three. His lung partially collapsed, putting him out of work for two months.
Owusu, now 21, of 6 Ahern St., is on trial in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District on three counts each of attempted murder and first-degree assault, and one charge of criminal mischief.
“Akwasi Owusu is not guilty,” Public Defender Thomas Stonitsch told the jury in his opening statement after first playing a video of the incident recorded on the body-worn camera of Officer Kevin Shields. “He never tried to kill anyone. Those police officers charged into Akwasi’s bedroom. He just reacted.”
Stonitsch said Owusu never threatened the officers nor did he assault any of them. He said it was the officers who had time on their side but, annoyed, escalated the situation. One had his gun drawn, another a stun gun at the ready before entering the bedroom.
Stonitsch said 20 minutes passed from the time officers arrived at the Ahern Street residence and Owusu was in handcuffs; two minutes elapsed from the time officers entered the house, the stun gun was fired and officers were wounded.
The police, he said, “simply got impatient.”
Owusu was 18 years old when police arrived at his home after a 911 call from his siblings. He had allegedly attacked his sister, hit his brother in the face and damaged his brother’s car.
Days earlier, he allegedly had choked his sister.
When officers arrived at the Ahern Street address that afternoon, they tried to talk to Owusu when he popped his head outside his second-floor bedroom window. They politely asked him to come out, but when he didn’t, used a firmer tone ordering him to come out of the building.
When he refused, with his sister’s permission and after backup arrived to ensure Owusu could not escape, they entered the residence and headed up the darkened, narrow stairwell. They looked in the bedroom and saw Owusu lying on a mattress on the floor, his left hand by his side. When Owusu wouldn’t show his hands after being ordered twice to do so, Langton fired a stun gun.
“What happens next is chaotic madness,” Raiche said in his opening. The officers believe Owusu is hit. Shields reholstered his weapon.
However, Raiche said the stun gun did not get “neuro-muscular impact.” So, when the officers moved to take Owusu into custody, Raiche said, “in a flash Owusu leaps up” and stabs Langton and Lacroix. Lacroix doesn’t know she’s been stabbed; she thinks she was punched really hard.
Langton yells,” Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. I got stabbed.” Shields’ forehead is sliced although he initially believes the blood is that of one of his fellow officers.
The video recording Stonitsch played reveals a darkened stairwell and bedroom and, at times, the recording is just blank space. As the incident plays out, a flash can be seen, apparently from the stun gun, a man is heard swearing and someone is also heard yelling “ow” several times.
The case has lingered in the courts for years, as Owusu has undergone mental health evaluations. For a time, he was committed to the New Hampshire State Hospital but now is back living with his sister, under supervision of Manchester Mental Health, and working at a local fast-food restaurant.
Owusu has said in court papers that he may invoke self-defense. He also has invoked an insanity defense.
In the afternoon, jurors went to view the residence where the stabbings took place. The trial continues Tuesday in Superior Court.
