New Hampshire shooter had sordid past

GREENLAND, N.H. (WHDH) -- The gunman in the New Hampshire police shooting had a violent past that included a previous arrest for assaulting his girlfriend.

Cullen Mutrie, the man who killed a police officer and wounded four others apparently wanted to be a paramedic and many in his hometown of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire could not believe what he did.

Mutrie was a large man, standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 275 pounds. Staffers confirmed he used to lift weights at the Genetix Gym in Seabrook, New Hampshire but had left a few years ago.

Between 2006 and 2010 he was a volunteer fire fighter in Hampton Falls, the town where he grew up.

In Hampton Falls, residents said they couldn’t believe what happened.

“He was a member of our department, a lot of our guys are still friends with him, it’s not the Cullen we knew,” said Chief Jay Lord of the Hampton Falls Fire Department.

Mutrie grew up in a peaceful, pre-Revolutionary War farmhouse. His mother was not home when 7News arrived at the home and 7News was told she was still grieving the death of Mutrie’s father, who passed away two years ago. Mutrie’s father reportedly owned a gun shop.

Neighbors said they were stunned to hear about Mutrie.

“He was a nice little boy, tragic,” said a neighbor.

Mutrie had been in trouble with the law before the shooting on Thursday. His first arrest came five years ago. Court documents showed Mutrie was arrested at a Portsmouth restaurant for punching another man in the head.

A judge order Mutrie to perform community service and to take anger management courses in that case.

Mutrie was arrested in 2009 for disorderly conduct and again in 2010 when his girlfriend took out a restraining order against him after he pulled her hair and grabbed her arm.

A judge ordered more anger management training and ordered Mutrie to not have a gun.

An officer searching for weapons at Mutrie’s residence in 2010 said he found guns and drugs at the Greenland home where he murdered the police chief.

Documents showed the police officer found anabolic steroids in a coffee table drawer and a scale.

As the gun fight played out Thursday night Mutrie faced nine felony counts of narcotics possession for the steroids found at his home.

(Copyright (c) 2012 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)