Update: Knife-Wielding Man Shot by Pittsfield Police Identified

Staff Reports 08:46AM / Saturday, March 26, 2022Print Story | Email Story

Update at 5:16 p.m. with more information and the victim's identity.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Police officers say they shot and killed a knife wielding man who charged at officers after nonlethal attempts were made to incapacitate him.

The victim has been identified as 22-year-old Miguel Estrella. The Berkshire State Police Detective Unit is conducting a criminal investigation into Estrella's death pursuant to standard protocols in officer-involved shootings.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy on Sunday. The State Police Detective Unit is conducting a comprehensive and ongoing investigation with the support of Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services and Massachusetts State Police Firearms Identification Section.

On Friday, March 25, 2022, at approximately 9:46 p.m., Pittsfield Police Department officers were dispatched to the 279 Onota St. for an initial report that a man had cut himself and was outside of his residence.

According to information from the District Attorney's Office, there had been multiple 911 calls requesting assistance. Callers alerted dispatch that Estrella had a history of mental illness, was cutting himself and was currently located outside of the apartment building. County Ambulance was also dispatched and responded to the scene and offered emergency medical services and transport to the hospital which Estrella declined.

Initial responding officers located Estrella with an apparent self-inflicted laceration to his face and had requested County Ambulance. At approximately 10:06 p.m., he refused medical attention and was left in the care of his girlfriend, who agreed to remain with him for the night.

Shortly after officers and emergency medical personnel departed, a third 911 call came in requesting that officers return due to Estrella "acting crazy again," according to the caller who also stated that "he needs to be taken to the hospital."

Pittsfield Police and County Ambulance were again dispatched to 279 Onota at approximately 10:10 p.m. Two Pittsfield Police officers arrived ahead of County Ambulance and encountered Estrella near the entrance of the apartment building at 279 Onota. According to the DA's Office, an eyewitness account confirmed that Estrella had a knife in his hands when police were there.

The initial responding units requested additional units and equipment. When the armed subject advanced on the officers, officers attempted two TASER deployments on the armed subject. When neither TASER deployment was successful in incapacitating the man, one officer fired their duty sidearm, striking the subject twice and stopping his advance, according to police.

The name of the officer who fired the fatal shots has not yet been released. The Pittsfield Police Department placed both of the responding officers on administrative leave pending the preliminary report of the department's internal Force Investigation Team pursuant to the order of Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn and Pittsfield Police Department policies.

The initial responding officers immediately attempted to render lifesaving aid and County Ambulance took Estrella to Berkshire Medical Center where he subsequently died. Additional Pittsfield Police Department Patrol Units and Investigative Units, as well as Massachusetts State Police Units responded to contain the scene.

While taking control of the scene, the Pittsfield Police Department requested assistance from the Berkshire State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office. At approximately 11:20 p.m., the Pittsfield Police Department was notified by Berkshire Medical Center that the man had succumbed to his injuries and was deceased.

"I send my deep condolences to the friends and family of Mr. Estrella for their loss. The State Police Detective Unit is conducting a thorough investigation to determine exactly what happened that led to this tragic death," District Attorney Andrea Harrington said.

The Berkshire District Attorney's Office has taken over jurisdiction the case. It is under investigation by the Berkshire State Police Detective Unit, the Pittsfield Police Department, Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab, and Massachusetts State Police Ballistics Section, with assistance by the Berkshire Law Enforcement Task Force.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the State Police Detective Unit at 413-499-1112.

Tags: shooting,

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PCTV Turns 40, Anniversary Celebration This Friday

By Breanna SteeleiBekshires Staff
03:30PM / Monday, September 14, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield Community Television is turning 40 this week, and it's celebrating with its viewers and listeners.

This Friday, Sept. 18, PCTV will celebrate at the Berkshire Hills Country Club. Ryan Peterson, WTEN News10 ABC anchor and Pittsfield High School graduate, will give the keynote address.

Executive Director Shawn Serre, who has been with the station for over 32 years, said it's their chance to celebrate all they have been able to bring to the community.

"It's a chance to reflect on everything that the organization has done over those years, all the people that have been involved. From board members to volunteers to producers to crew people to staff members, and all the different programs that we've produced," he said. "Everything from public programming to education, sports, graduations, parades, government meetings and forums, and election night coverage, and all kinds of other things that just year upon year of history that we've been able to create and document here for the Pittsfield community over those years."

Serre took over as executive director about nine years ago. Originally a volunteer fresh out of college.

The original board included former mayor Edward Reilly, Dan Dillon, Diane Morgenstern, Bernard Avalle, and John Fukes of the Berkshire Athenaeum. The operation was all-volunteer until PCTV hired the first executive director in January 1989.

PCTV has operated out of its station on Federico Drive since 1999. But originally they worked out of a basement.

"The first location that we ever had, we had all of our equipment stored in cardboard boxes in the basement of the Berkshire Athenaeum, because the Berkshire Athenaeum at the time was very gracious and allowed us to have some space while we sort of got our feet on the ground and sort of got things organized," he said. "But we had no location. We had no studio. We just had this equipment that was ordered with the money that we had from the original cable franchise grant."

"So that lasted a couple of years, and then we signed and got a lease over in our first studio location, which was over on Fourth Street in Pittsfield," Serre continued. "That was around the time that I first got involved, just before we moved to Fourth Street. So I was there in the basement of the library, opening those boxes up and seeing what we had for equipment. So we stayed there at Fourth Street for about 10 years, and then this building that we're currently in now, over on Federico Drive, was constructed in 1998. It was built kind of custom-made for the cable company and for us and for one other company."

Serre said one of their proudest moments was saving the radio station WTBR-FM back in 2018. PCTV made space for them so they could continue operation.

"We carved out some space here in our facility for that, and we've been operating that radio station ever since. So those are some of the big milestones of growth of the organization over the years, and the things that we've done," he said.

They have also invested in advanced technology to keep their programming accessible to all.

"Technologically, there's another whole series of things that we've gone through," he said. "We've started out with a single cable TV channel. We grew to three cable TV channels. We started out as standard definition on videotape, and we grew to digital, and then to high definition, and then everything went to the internet. So we're able to offer video on demand and live streams and video on social media. And then with the radio station, we also have a live stream there and podcasting. So we've seen a lot of technological change and tried to roll with that over the years."

Serre said that PCTV strives to keep people informed while also allowing space for people to create their own media.

"The whole idea behind PEG [Public Education and Government Access]...the whole idea behind that back in the 70s and 80s was that people could be left behind with the technology that's available to the big corporations," he said. "So, if you had a cable system at the time, ordinary people maybe they had camcorders at home, but they didn't have access to a TV studio; they didn't have access to the kind of technology that we had to allow them to create programs and share it with the community. So we filled that gap, and that was one of the main things that we did. And then also to be able to create programming for viewers and for the city, so that the municipal meetings can be shown, and so school committee meetings can be shown, and it really brings people in and involved."

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