By Josh LaBella
Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — State officials on Wednesday released the body camera footage from a police shooting on Governor Street last weekend.
The shooting took place around 3:30 p.m. Sunday when officers responded to a dispute at Governor’s Auto Body & Repair where a man displayed a gun to a tow truck driver, the Connecticut Office of Inspector General said in a report released Wednesday.
The OIG said the incident arose out of a dispute surrounding whether items were missing from a vehicle that had been towed into the auto body shop the day before. The inspector general said the first arriving officer, Officer Brian Altamirano, observed a white Infinity in the parking lot.
Warning: The body camera video is graphic and may be disturbing to some viewers.
Click below to see full video.
“A male was in the driver’s seat and a second male and female were standing next to the passenger side of the Infinity,” the inspector general said. “A second East Hartford police cruiser, operated by Officer Daniel Guilfuchi, arrived at the body shop and stopped near the Infinity.”
The OIG said Altamirano exited his cruiser and asked whether anyone had firearms. In an effort to escape, the driver of the Infinity went forward and crashed into Guilfuchi’s cruiser.
“The white Infinity then reversed, quickly moving backward knocking the two people on the passenger side to the ground,” the inspector general said. “At that time, they were holding two children.”
While Guilfuchi was in the process of exiting his cruiser, the OIG said, the Infinity drove forward again colliding with the front of his cruiser. The inspector general said he then discharged his gun approximately six times at the Infinity. Altamirano also discharged his gun at the Infinity, the inspector general said.
The OIG said the suspect then fled west on Interstate 84 and the vehicle was later found on Tredeau Street in Hartford. The inspector general said it was determined the car had been stolen.
With the report, the OIG released Guilfuchi’s body camera footage and Altamirano’s dash camera video.
In Altamirano’s dash camera footage, he can be seen pulling up to the scene and getting out of the vehicle. When Guilfuchi’s car pulled up, the Infiniti backed up and accelerated forward, slamming into the officer’s cruiser, the video showed.
The suspect then backed up and the two adults at the scene grabbed the children from the vehicle, the video shows. The Infiniti then backed up, hitting the building and knocking the two adults to the ground.
The Infiniti then went forward, hitting Guilfuchi’s vehicle, as the officers began to fire their weapons. The suspect vehicle then drove away, the video showed.
In the body camera footage, Guilfuchi can be seen pulling up to the scene when the Infiniti hit his cruiser. He then opened the door and both officers ordered the suspect to stop the vehicle multiple times.
Instead, the vehicle backed up toward the two adults, the video shows. Guilfuchi then began shooting in the direction of the vehicle, at one point shooting through his windshield.
___
(c)2024 Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
Visit Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn. at www.journalinquirer.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.