Photo: MA Trial Courts
A man wearing a gas mask and tactical gear attacked several people with pepper spray at the Woburn District Court near Boston on Monday (April 14). The suspect, identified as 28-year-old Nicholas Akerberg from Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, was captured on security footage entering the courthouse and deploying pepper spray at multiple court officers, a police officer, and an assistant district attorney.
According to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, Akerberg also punched and shoved several individuals before being subdued by officers. It took six officers and a taser to restrain him. Akerberg, along with the police officer and two court officers, was treated at a hospital and later released.
Akerberg was found carrying eight canisters of pepper spray and two smoke canisters. He faces multiple charges, including six counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault, disrupting a court proceeding, disorderly conduct, bomb threat, and intimidation. His bail was revoked, and he was ordered to undergo a competency evaluation. He is due back in court on May 2.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan condemned the attack, stating, "These are not just acts of violence, they are challenges to the rule of law."
Akerberg has a history of mental health issues, with five prior court-mandated commitments to mental health institutions. In 2023, he was arrested for punching a neighbor, and in 2024, he attacked police officers with pepper spray while resisting arrest for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.