By Liz Hardaway
Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
NAUGATUCK, Conn. — A 24-year-old man remains in the hospital in stable condition after he was shot by two local police officers last week, according to the state Office of the Inspector General.
Before shooting the man, Naugatuck police officers used a Taser to try to subdue him, but it failed to stop 24-year-old Kyle O’Creene who continued to approach them with a knife, the inspector general wrote in a report and body camera footage released on Monday shows.
The inspector general released the report Monday morning providing further details about the police shooting. Inspector General Robert J. Devlin Jr . and his office investigate all police shootings and use-of-force incidents to determine whether the force was justified.
Click below to see full video.
In the report, Devlin also released portions of footage from the body-worn cameras of the two officers who shot O’Creene.
WARNING: The body camera footage is graphic and may be disturbing to some viewers
Devlin said Naugatuck police were called to Baummer Pond around 9:10 a.m. Thursday for a report of a man with a knife acting erratically. Naugatuck officers responded and saw O’Creene near a picnic table holding a knife, according to the report.
Videos from the incident show O’Creene was initially sitting down, but stood up when officers approached. Officers first asked O’Creene to sit back down and then repeatedly told him to put the knife down. He did not comply with the commands, Devlin said.
“O’Creene stood up and advanced upon the officers with the knife, ignoring multiple commands to drop the knife,” Devlin wrote.
Naugatuck Police Officer Joseph Palhete could be seen pointing the Taser at O’Creene in the video footage.
“Put the knife down now,” Palhete yelled at O’Creene, according to his body-worn camera footage. “Put it down or you’re going to get tased.”
However, the Taser deployment was unsuccessful, Devlin wrote.
Palhete could then be heard yelling to other officers to “get distance” while continuing to command O’Creene to put the knife down, the footage shows.
O’Creene continued to advance at the officers while holding the knife and Palhete appeared to fire two shots, the footage shows. O’Creene could then be seen still walking toward an officer and Officer Crystal Hudson could be seen firing a third shot at O’Creene, according to the footage.
After the three shots, officers commanded O’Creene to get down, which he did, the footage shows.
Officers then immediately started providing medical aid to O’Creene, who was later taken to Waterbury Hospital for treatment, the report stated.
The Office of Inspector General, along with the Connecticut State Police Central District Major Crime Squad, the Naugatuck Police Department and the Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office, are continuing to investigate the incident.
The incident occurred in what neighbors described as a safe area usually bustling with families. Near the Lantern Park condominium complex. Baummer Pond is surrounded by walking paths, park benches and basketball courts and was the site for a fishing competition over the weekend.
Another police shooting occurred in Colchester just a week prior.
On the evening of April 18, Colchester Police Officer Kiruluss Wassef and two other officers were dispatched to Norwich Avenue for a possible disturbance. There, the landlord of the property, Jared Billard, pointed a shotgun toward Wassef, who fired one round, striking Billard in the upper chest area, according to Devlin’s preliminary report.
Billard later died from his injuries, Devlin said.
The Office of Inspector General , the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, the Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Squad and the New London Judicial District State’s Attorney’s Office are investigating the Colchester incident.
Two days after the Naugatuck incident, there was a third shooting involving an officer in Hartford . The incident occurred on Wethersfield Avenue around 12:15 a.m. Saturday, but police said no one was struck by gunfire.
Further details regarding the Hartford incident were not immediately available. The inspector general and the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crimes Unit are investigating the Hartford shooting, police said.
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