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2 officers wounded at Conn. Navy base

Authorities say two Navy civilian police officers have been wounded while confronting a knife-wielding man

Associated Press

GROTON, Conn. — A man stabbed a police officer outside a gate of the Navy’s submarine base in Connecticut because he was angry that he was denied entry to visit his brother, military investigators said Friday.

Gary Ray Brunache appeared Friday in U.S. District Court in Hartford on charges including assault of a federal officer. He did not enter a plea and his attorney declined to speak with reporters.

Two civilian Defense Department police officers were injured in the Thursday evening confrontation. One was struck by a ricochet when an officer fired several shots at Brunache, and the other suffered a minor stab wound to the leg. Both were treated and released from a hospital.

In an interview with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Brunache said he walked from his home in Norwich to see his brother on the base in Groton and became agitated when police said he could not enter, according to the complaint.

Brunache lunged at one officer with a knife, and when he disregarded warnings, another officer used pepper spray, investigators said. Brunache then turned on the officer with the pepper spray and stabbed his leg, authorities said. An officer fired “approximately three rounds” from his service pistol but Brunache was not hit by any of the bullets, according to the complaint.

Brunache was treated at a hospital for exposure for pepper spray. A detention hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press

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