Unease follows Fairhaven shooting
Fatal shootout between ex-firefighter, police shakes holiday weekend
FAIRHAVEN — At the Bayside Lounge late Friday afternoon, patrons were enjoying an early start to New Year’s weekend.
Music blasted from speakers. Christmas stockings and ornaments dangled above the long wooden bar. Close to a couple dozen people crowded the bar and tables with their drinks.
Among them was Paul N. Coderre Jr., 55, a former acting fire chief in neighboring New Bedford, who had arrived around noontime, officials said.
Jonathan Mello of New Bedford was enjoying time with his father at the Bayside. Just around 5 p.m., the mood suddenly turned serious.
The bartender said, “I need everyone to move to the back,” Mello, 33, recalled Saturday. Puzzled patrons complied, before later being ushered out to the far side of the building.
Outside, police who had responded to a report of an intoxicated man trying to leave faced a far more dire situation.
“All units to this location,” an officer called on the radio, his voice tense. “We got a man with a firearm.”
Scores of police from Southcoast communities answered the call for assistance.
Within a few minutes, what had been a normal afternoon at a popular local restaurant turned deadly.
Coderre had opened fire on police, and wounded an Acushnet officer in the leg, before police shot and killed him at the scene, officials said.
Coderre had been drinking for hours and was involved in a fight inside that continued outside, Bristol District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said at the scene Friday night.
When Coderre tried to leave in his vehicle, someone tried to stop him, Quinn said.
Police used non-lethal force to try to subdue Coderre, according to Quinn.
“Those attempts were not successful. At some point, he fired his gun. Police returned fire and the result of that, Paul Coderre died,” Quinn said Friday.
Coderre was licensed to carry a handgun, Gregg Miliote, a spokesperson for Quinn, confirmed Saturday.
The violence left many grappling with how a former firefighter could end up in a shootout with local police in a tightknit corner of Massachusetts.
“It’s just bizarre. This can happen anywhere,” Mello said Saturday.
The state medical examiner’s office has Coderre’s body and will conduct an autopsy, Miliote said.
He did not identify which officer shot Coderre or say if the officer had been placed on leave. “A thorough investigation of all facts and circumstances will take place over the coming weeks and months,” Miliote said in an e-mail.
The Acushnet officer who was wounded was treated at Saint Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, according to Acushnet Police Chief Christopher Richmond on Saturday. The officer was treated and released Friday night, Richmond said.
“Thankfully, he is doing well and recovering at home,” Richmond said in an email.
Coderre had a home address listed in Dartmouth, where a woman who answered the door on Saturday declined to comment. In Mattapoisett, a man at a home listed as the address of some of Coderre’s relatives also declined to comment.
Coderre was a divorced father of two now-grown children, family court documents show.
He was once lauded for his leadership of New Bedford’s fire department. In late 2018, while a deputy fire chief, he was appointed acting fire chief, according to a New Bedford police Facebook post congratulating him on his promotion.
At the time, Coderre had served for 25 years in the department, and had become a deputy chief in 2011, the post said. New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell had hailed Coderre as the department’s temporary leader.
“Paul is well regarded by the men and women of the New Bedford Fire Department, and respected in our community,” Mitchell said in a statement at the time.
But in January 2022, Mitchell fired Coderre as acting fire chief “for dishonesty and untruthfulness in connection with alleged work-related injuries” and abusing the department’s work leave policy, according to a city statement released at the time.
Coderre appealed his firing to the state’s Civil Service Commission, which overturned the decision in November.
In Fairhaven on Saturday, there was little sign of the violence. Except that the Bayside Lounge was closed.
Police were not at the bar on Sconticut Neck Road. A few curious passersby drove into the parking lot, looked around and turned back onto the road.
A few people — like Mello — stopped by to get their cars, which were left behind while police worked at the scene Friday.
Mello described hearing about six gunshots ring out Friday night, after he and other patrons had been cleared from the bar. He said investigators let him and his father leave the scene around 7 p.m.
The bar is a long-time gathering place for locals, according to Karen Diggins, 71, whose salon is directly behind the restaurant.
“It’s just a nice neighborhood bar that serves really good food. It’s my spot,” said Diggins, who didn’t know Coderre. “Hopefully they won’t get into any trouble.”
Diggins also lives nearby, but wasn’t around at the time of the shooting. She said she supported police who responded to the scene.
“When you shoot a cop, you sign your death warrant,” she said.
Russell Fareas, 62, lives across the street, and described seeing a number of police and emergency vehicles crowded around the bar Friday night. He had been wearing headphones at the time of the shooting, and learned from passersby what had occurred.
Fareas said he has been thinking about how Coderre brought a gun with him into a bar. He believes having a gun means being responsible with it, he said.
The violence, he said, reflects the seemingly endless report of shootings that have gripped the country.
“Yes, I am surprised it happened in Fairhaven. It’s usually calm around here,” Fareas said. “But the way things are going in this nation right now? I’m not surprised either.”