The Massachusetts Appeals Court has thrown out a lawsuit filed by a man who was shot multiple times by Plymouth police officers during a 2018 gunfight outside his home.
Michael Walsh, 45, sued the town, the Select Board and four officers for $2.5 million, alleging the officers used excessive force and violated his civil rights when they shot him after answering a 911 call from his wife.
He pleaded guilty in 2023 to 18 firearms-related charges stemming from the incident. He is still in prison, serving five to seven years at Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater.
The case against the town was dismissed shortly after the suit was filed in 2021.
But last year a Plymouth Superior Court judge said Walsh’s civil suit against the officers could proceed because there were factual disputes — including contradictory accounts of what happened.
Walsh, who suffered a traumatic brain injury years earlier, filed his lawsuit on March 3, 2021, two years before he pleaded guilty in the criminal case on April 26, 2023.
In a Jan. 30, 2025 ruling that Plymouth Police Chief Dana Flynn at the time called “outrageous,” Judge Brian Glenny allowed the civil case to continue despite Walsh’s acknowledgment he fired first and was brandishing a firearm when police opened fire.
Glenny said just because Walsh pleaded guilty didn’t necessarily mean he committed the crimes.
“When a defendant pleads guilty, waiving his right to a trial by jury, scarce judicial and prosecutorial resources are conserved,” Glenny wrote, citing a ruling in another case.
Walsh said he shot first but aimed into the air — and was then met with a barrage of bullets. He also claimed he was trying to surrender while the officers were still shooting.
But on Sept. 29, an Appeals Court panel overturned Glenny’s ruling and ordered the case dismissed.
“The officers were not required to let an armed, fleeing suspect who had already fired his gun to continue to brandish a firearm while running …” Appeals Court Associate Justice Joseph Ditkoff wrote.
“There are no facts here on which a reasonable jury could base an inference that the officers used these weapons for any purpose or with any motive other than law enforcement,” the justice continued. “The officers were exercising their official discretion in responding to an armed, threatening suspect.”
On April 26, 2018, Plymouth officers responded to a 911 call from Walsh’s then-wife, Sarah Gardner, who reported he was distraught and had shot at her and her daughter as they tried to flee from the house on Federal Furnace Road, according to police reports.
Officers set up a perimeter across the street, according to police.
Walsh fired toward the officers before retreating briefly into his house, according to police reports. A minute later he allegedly came out firing a handgun, hitting an officer’s cruiser. Police returned fire, striking Walsh as he ran across his yard.
In all, police fired 49 times, a state police report said. In a deposition, Walsh said he was hit eight to 12 times in the head, shoulder, arm, back, chest and buttocks. He said he suffered lingering physical and emotional issues, including migraine headaches, weakness, numbness, and disfigurement.
In his suit, he was seeking damages for medical expenses and lost wages.
Walsh’s lawyer, Robert Johnson, said he is exploring the possibility of appealing the decision to the Supreme Judicial Court.
He said police knew Walsh had sustained a serious brain injury several years earlier, when he was a police officer in South Carolina. Walsh was struck by a drunk driver on his way to a shooting at a local McDonald’s, Johnson said.
“I have trouble with the police knowing he had a mental illness. They were aware he had a major mental illness — traumatic stress disorder,” Johnson said.
“Instead of coming with a therapist, they came with AR-15 rifles.”
By short-circuiting the normal court process, the Appeals Court denied Walsh a chance to tell his story to a jury, Johnson said.
The officers named in the lawsuit were Robert Hackett, Thomas DeLaura, David Lis, and Thomas Kelly. Only Lis is still with the department. Hackett and DeLaura are working for the Duxbury Police Department. Kelly retired.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.