By Zach Murdock
Hartford Courant
WATERBURY, Conn. — A Waterbury police officer who was shot in the chest during a stolen car investigation is home from the hospital, the police chief said Wednesday morning.
“The officer is home recovering,” Chief Fernando Spagnolo said. “He is doing OK.”
The officer spared more serious injury — or death — by his bulletproof vest. He was shot Tuesday afternoon.
Four suspects were taken into custody less than two hours later near Oxford Airport, but police would only say the suspects were connected to the shooting and did not release any additional information at a brief news conference outside the Waterbury police headquarters.
The officer was in stable condition shortly after the shooting at Saint Mary’s Hospital, just a few blocks from the scene of the incident.
“That officer is doing fine and recovering now and getting ready to be released from the hospital,” Spagnolo said just after 5 p.m.
The shooting occurred at about 2:20 p.m. on Marley Place, a short residential street just off Wolcott Street east of downtown, police said. Officials would only say that the officer was investigating a stolen car when he or she was shot in the chest.
The officer, who police have not identified publicly, was wearing a bulletproof vest that Spagnolo credited with saving the officer’s life.
Officials did not say Tuesday evening whether the officer injured or any other officer fired their service weapon during the incident. Nor did they say how many shots were fired by the suspect or suspects.
Four suspects were taken into custody a short time later near the airport but neither Spagnolo nor state police would say early Tuesday evening what charges would be filed against any or all of those suspects.
“Please understand at this point we are in the infancy stages of this investigation,” state police spokesman Trooper Josue Dorelus said. “A lot of information, a lot of the details as it relates to this investigation cannot and will not be released at this moment.”
State police troopers and detectives responded to the scene near Marley Place and warned motorists to expect a heavy police presence around the area of Wolcott and East Main streets.
Waterbury police asked anyone with information about the incident to call the detectives at 203-574-6941 or leave information anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 203-755-1234.
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