FRANCONIA, N.H. (AP) – A police officer was fatally shot in the line of duty Friday night along with another person, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said. News reports identified the second person as a cousin of ski champion Bode Miller.

Ayotte said both were men and declined to identify them. She said the role of second person was being investigated by the State Police Major Crime Unit.

Ayotte declined to comment on whether police were searching for anyone or whether anyone was in custody.

Earlier Friday, Gov. John Lynch released a statement confirming that the Franconia officer was killed in line of duty. He declined to release any more information, saying it would released at the “appropriate time” by state police.

“In honor of the memory of this police officer, I am directing that all American and state flags be flown at half-staff until further notice,” Lynch said.

Bill Kenney, who lives in nearby Easton, told the New Hampshire Union Leader his nephew, Liko Kenney, who was in his early to mid-20s, was killed.

“We lost one of the sons of the valley here,” Kenney said. “He was born right here, part of the Kenney family. He’s famous or infamous, however you want to look at it. One of the clan.”

Kenney said Liko Kenney’s father is the brother of Jo Miller, Bode’s Miller mother. Liko’s parents were in Hawaii when they found out about the shooting and were en route home, Kenney said.

WMUR-TV also reported that the man was a cousin of Bode Miller’s.

A section of Route 116 south of Franconia’s town center, about a mile from Easton town line has been closed and police cruisers were in the area. Authorities, which started getting calls after 6 p.m., set up traffic cones down the median and blocked half the road with police tape. Flashing blue lights were seen further in the distance and drivers were turned away.

Franconia police referred all calls to the Attorney General’s office.

The last time a New Hampshire police officer was killed on the job was in October, when Manchester Officer Michael Briggs was shot in the head while investigating reports of gunshots in an alley.

Michael Addison is charged with capital murder in the shooting.

AP-ES-05-11-07 2332EDT

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