WALLINGFORD, Conn. — The Office of the Inspector General released bodycam footage Wednesday of the shooting that involved Wallingford police officers early Monday.
Donald Passmore died after being shot by officers who responded to a call just before 3 a.m. Monday at a home on North Airline Road, according to the report from the office of the Inspector General.
When officers arrived on the scene, they spoke with a woman who told them her boyfriend, Passmore, shot himself in their bedroom.
Officials said officers entered the house, announced that they were police officers, and asked, “Where’s the gun?” Then Passmore spoke to them from the bedroom and they proceeded to the bedroom door, where Passmore was lying on the bed. The officers spoke to him for about nine minutes.
In the video, Passmore can be heard telling them to "put their flashlights down." He went on to say, "One of you is going to go."
Officers repeatedly asked Passmore to place his hands in the air and instructed him several times not to touch the gun. At 2:54 a.m. officers said, “Don’t touch the gun!” and “Put your right hand up!” At this point, approximately 10 shots were fired at Passmore.
Wallingford Police Department personnel rendered medical assistance until the arrival of Emergency Medical Services. Passmore was then taken to MidState Medical Center in Meriden, where he was pronounced dead at 3:37 a.m.
"Police officers are taught in instances where they feel that their life is in danger to shoot for center mass to try to de-escalate the problem," said Bobby McDonald, a retired secret service agent and a lecturer for the criminal justice department at the University of New Haven.
After watching the footage, he said it is helpful for officers to know there is a weapon when they go into a situation like this.
"The fact that they know there’s a gun potentially is going to heighten their awareness of what the dangers are that they’re going into," McDonald said.
The Office of the Inspector General is now investigating. The office was recently established in 2021.
"A totally unrelated entity within the state of Connecticut that is not attached to any particular state’s attorney’s office or any police department," McDonald said.
CAUTION the images and audio may be disturbing.
Watch the edited video here
Officers located a .22 caliber revolver on the bed.
As is standard procedure, officers were placed on administrative duties.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be: “Gunshot wounds of torso.” The manner of death was listed as homicide. Police are awaiting a toxicology report on Passmore.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
Leah Myers is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at lmyers@fox61.com
Gaby Molina is a reporter and anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at mmolina@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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