On the morning of January 29, 2016, 33-year-old Randolph McClain was killed during a confrontation with Lynn police at 106 Bayview Avenue in Lynn, Massachusetts. Officers had gone to the address to serve five outstanding arrest warrants linked to an investigation by the Lynn Police Domestic Violence Unit into alleged restraining order violations and threatening behavior directed at his former girlfriend and her family. Reports say the threats had involved a firearm on multiple occasions in the prior three weeks.

Officers on a second-floor landing contacted McClain, who reportedly said he had a gun and would kill them. He was seen climbing out a second-floor window onto a porch roof, allegedly pointing a gun at an officer, then jumping to the ground and fleeing. During the pursuit he is said to have carjacked a woman on Nichols Avenue at gunpoint. Three officers then fired, striking McClain multiple times. First aid was given and he was taken to Salem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A handgun was recovered at the scene. The Essex District Attorney’s Office later concluded the officers reasonably believed they faced imminent danger and did not file criminal charges.