Bradley Haas, former Franklin police chief, brought stability to department

FRANKLIN — The Franklin Police Department was reeling from controversy in 2006, when the city needed to select a new police chief. Their pick was Bradley Haas, who had grown up in the city and had worked his way up through the department’s ranks.

Haas, who retired from the police department in 2008, was working as a security officer at the New Hampshire Hospital on Friday afternoon when he was shot and killed. His death, which occurred while he was working to safeguard others, ended a life that was drawn through with the line of public service.

The shooter opened fire as he approached the metal detectors at the psychiatric hospital’s entrance, where Haas was stationed. A rented vehicle, later discovered in the hospital's parking lot, contained an assault rifle, ammunition and a ballistic vest, perhaps indicating plans for more violence were it not for the interdiction of Haas and the state trooper, according to reporting by New Hampshire Bulletin.

The shooter was wielding a 9-mm pistol when he shot and killed Haas.

Ken Merrifield, commissioner for the state’s Department of Labor, was mayor of Franklin when Haas was made police chief. He said that when the city needed a stable hand atop the police department, Haas provided exactly that.

“Brad was a wonderful man, very stable, calming, reliable,” Merrifield said. “He worked for our police department in Franklin for decades before becoming chief,” and that was part of why he was selected over the other applicants.

“He was chosen for stability,” Merrifield said. “It had the desired effect. It stabilized operations, made people feel good again.”

Merrifield and Haas both moved on from their appointments in Franklin to new jobs in Concord, and happened to be just yards away from one another when the shooting started at around 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 17. Haas, who had served for three years with the U.S. Army, then 28 years with Franklin PD, was working as a security officer for the NH Department of Safety.

The suspected shooter, a 33-year-old, was shot and killed by a state trooper who was working alongside Haas on Friday.

Merrifield said he will remember Haas as “a very good guy. ... On behalf of the whole community, I would express condolences to his whole family for such an awful, awful event.”

Sen. Maggie Hassan posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, “Bradley Haas spent his life dedicated to protecting the people of New Hampshire, including as Franklin’s chief of police and in the U.S. Army. His bravery will never be forgotten and I know all Granite Staters are thinking of his family today.”

Gov. Chris Sununu also took to X to express his and his wife’s condolences to Haas’ family. “He will be remembered for his heroism and decades of public service.”

NH Attorney General John Formella released a statement of condolence on Saturday.

“As a nearly 30-year law enforcement veteran and a former military police officer in the U.S. Army, Chief Haas was already a hero when he walked into work yesterday. Now Chief Haas will forever be remembered as the man who sacrificed his own life to save the lives of the many people inside New Hampshire Hospital."

Robert Quinn, commissioner for the NH Department of Safety, also offered condolences to Haas’ family, friends and colleagues. “[Security] Officer Haas was a dedicated member of the Safety team who died a hero protecting patients and staff of New Hampshire Hospital. Our hearts ache at this loss.”

In an interview that Haas gave to Foster’s Daily Democrat when he announced his retirement in 2008, he described spending all of his professional career in his hometown, which he saw change from a mill city to, at the time, a “bedroom community.” He spoke about the 1971 rape and murder of Kathy Lynn Gloddy, a crime that horrified the community, and which remains unsolved. Haas saved a newspaper clipping from that era — he was 11 when the crime occurred — and said he wished that he could have seen justice for the Gloddy family.

Haas noted the technology of police work started with typewriters, when he was a rookie, to computers when he was chief.

“But being a cop is being a cop,” Haas told Foster’s. “People — that’s the business we’re in.”

In his retirement years, Haas said he wanted to spend more time with his family.