Concord police investigate machete attack in homeless camp

Concord police, fire and rescue teams were again dispatched to a homeless encampment in Healy Park on Saturday night to investigate an attack.

June 9, 2024, 12:26 EDT | Updated June 9, 2024, 12:31 EDT

CONCORD, NH — Concord police are investigating a report of an attack on a homeless encampment in Healy Park Saturday night in which a machete was reportedly used.

Shortly before 8 p.m., the police received the first calls about the attack from a homeless camper in the park. The camper reported that another man had woken up and started wildly hitting him with a machete. The men knew each other. The victim reported injuries to the police, whereupon the operations center called for fire and rescue services.

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Several officers were subsequently dispatched to the area near the entrance to Manchester Street.

The Capital Region Fire Dispatch dispatched firefighters and paramedics to the area a few minutes later to provide police readiness.

According to police headquarters, the perpetrator continued to swing his machete while talking to the caller.

When officers arrived, they asked for a description of the suspect and began searching the area to find the exact location.

“It’s quite a distance…at least half a mile” into the camp, said an officer.

Since the operations center had received several calls about the incident, there was some confusion about where the victim and perpetrator were located near the camp.

“It’s coming from a third-party provider,” said a fire dispatcher, “so we’re obviously getting it from a tenth provider. They’re also still trying to figure it out because the caller is not with the patient. So we’re trying to figure it out.”

The fire chief decided to go to Basin Street to prepare for the incident, but later drove to Manchester Street.

About five minutes later, police reported that the victim managed to grab the machete from the perpetrator and put it on while waiting for officers. The victim was reportedly struck two or three times with the machete.

At around 8:15 p.m., one of the officers reported that he had encountered a woman in addition to the suspect. He said he was armed with a knife. Radio silence was requested for a few minutes, and two officers reported that they were with the first officer and the suspect.

A fourth officer asked police to secure the crime scene as best they could, and asked for crime scene tape and a container large enough to hold a 14-inch gun.

Another officer requested a camera to take photos of the victim’s two cuts. The victim refused transport to the hospital and fire and rescue teams cleared the scene.

Police reported that the woman who accompanied the suspect also witnessed the incident.

At around 9:15 p.m., the suspect was arrested for second-degree assault.

By 10 p.m. the police had cleared the crime scene.

This is the fourth time in recent months that police, fire and rescue teams have been sent to the park to deal with a robbery and other incidents at the park’s homeless encampment.

In early March, a man was shot with a pellet gun at one of the camps and hospitalized. Kaitlin Cook was later arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault and reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, all felonies. According to Superior Court records, Cook’s case was transferred from Concord District Court to Merrimack County Superior Court, and she filed a “self-defense” statement on May 22. She is due back in Superior Court on July 1 to attend a hearing.

About a month later, another air rifle shot was reported in the park.

In late December 2023, homeless campers were rescued by firefighters after rising water levels in the Merrimack River flooded the park and trapped homeless campers.

Concord NH Patch will update this post when more information becomes available.

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