Report: Cops Fatally Shoot Childhood Friend of Mark Wahlberg After Suspect’s Mom Found Dead

ABC/RANDY HOLMES(BOSTON) — Paul Campbell, a 49-year-old childhood friend of Mark Wahlberg who appeared in bit parts in Wahlberg’s movies Ted and The Fighter, was fatally shot early Monday morning in an apparent confrontation with police officers in Weymouth, Massachusetts, according to the Boston Globe.

The Norfolk District Attorney’s office said in a statement that police officers responded to a 911 call at the Campbell house just after 1 a.m. and found Campbell outside the home in an “agitated” state and armed with several knives. The DA’s office said the body of Campbell’s 72-year-old mother, Patricia Campbell, was found with multiple stab wounds on the steps of her home.

The DA’s office has not said if Campbell charged the officers or if the shooting was justified, only that the incident remains under investigation.

Campbell, who also appeared in American Hustle, had a long rap sheet that included drug possession charges and assaulting police, the Globe reported.

Wahlberg talked about Campbell’s first acting experience in a 2010 interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, describing him as “one of the guys I used to look up to in Dorchester, and who I got into a lot of trouble with.”

Aside from his small movie roles, Campbell was also locally known for being the father of Lauren Higgins, the 23-year-old daughter of Lorrie Higgins, the longtime girlfriend of Boston Mayor Martin Walsh. Lorrie Higgins dated Campbell when she was in high school. He was seven years older.

Mayor Walsh told WCVB, the local ABC affiliate, that his “heart goes out…to all the people affected by the tragedy,” adding, “Lorrie and Lauren are my first priority in life, and my heart’s with them, and I ask for your privacy.”

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