BETHEL — -
A man described as "despondent" was shot and killed by a Bethel police officer after he confronted three officers with a gun, refused orders to drop the weapon and made an abrupt move toward the officers, authorities said Saturday.
The victim, who was 56, has been identified, but police did not release his name.
It was not immediately clear whether the man provoked police to shoot him with the intention of committing suicide. But a state police spokesman, Lt. J. Paul Vance, said that the three Bethel officers who had pursued the man through a wooded area had tried to calm him and repeatedly ordered him to drop the gun. When he made a sudden move toward the officers with the weapon, one of the officers fired at the man, severely wounding him.
The man was treated by medics and taken to Danbury Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Vance said.
The incident began with a phone call to police at 10 a.m. Saturday saying that an emotionally despondent, armed man was inside a residence at 150 Grassy Plain Road.
Officers made contact with the man and ordered him to drop any weapons, Vance said. The man ran out a door and into a wooded area behind the housing complex.
"Three Bethel police officers pursued him in an attempt to subdue him. ... The officers attempted to calm him and also have him comply with directions to drop his weapon," Vance said in a news release.
The man "refused to comply with all directions made by the officers and he made an abrupt movement with the weapon toward the officers. One Bethel police officer was forced to discharge his service weapon at the male," Vance said.
The police officers were not injured. Vance said that the Bethel police chief and the Danbury state's attorney's office asked the State Police Western District Major Crime Squad to investigate.
Vance said that police are withholding the man's name until his family is notified. An autopsy will be performed, Vance said.
As is standard department policy, the officer involved in the shooting will be assigned to desk duty while the case is under investigation. Vance did not release the officer's name.
The victim, who was 56, has been identified, but police did not release his name.
It was not immediately clear whether the man provoked police to shoot him with the intention of committing suicide. But a state police spokesman, Lt. J. Paul Vance, said that the three Bethel officers who had pursued the man through a wooded area had tried to calm him and repeatedly ordered him to drop the gun. When he made a sudden move toward the officers with the weapon, one of the officers fired at the man, severely wounding him.
The man was treated by medics and taken to Danbury Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Vance said.
The incident began with a phone call to police at 10 a.m. Saturday saying that an emotionally despondent, armed man was inside a residence at 150 Grassy Plain Road.
Officers made contact with the man and ordered him to drop any weapons, Vance said. The man ran out a door and into a wooded area behind the housing complex.
"Three Bethel police officers pursued him in an attempt to subdue him. ... The officers attempted to calm him and also have him comply with directions to drop his weapon," Vance said in a news release.
The man "refused to comply with all directions made by the officers and he made an abrupt movement with the weapon toward the officers. One Bethel police officer was forced to discharge his service weapon at the male," Vance said.
The police officers were not injured. Vance said that the Bethel police chief and the Danbury state's attorney's office asked the State Police Western District Major Crime Squad to investigate.
Vance said that police are withholding the man's name until his family is notified. An autopsy will be performed, Vance said.
As is standard department policy, the officer involved in the shooting will be assigned to desk duty while the case is under investigation. Vance did not release the officer's name.
