1 Dead After Police Shooting In West Haven

(Updated) A 36-year-old New Haven man died Thursday after being shot by two New Haven police officers and a state police sergeant during a criminal investigation in West Haven.

According to a state police press release, at around 5 p.m., the New Haven Violent Crime Task Force was conducting an investigation at 2 Boston Post Rd. in West Haven, just over the New Haven city border.

“During the course of the investigation the suspect displayed a firearm,” the press release states. ​“A Connecticut State Police Sergeant and a New Haven Police officer discharged their weapons, causing injury to the suspect.”

Update: During a phone interview Thursday evening, Police Chief Karl Jacobson confirmed that the man shot by police had died. He also said that there were actually two New Haven police officers who fired shots during this incident, in addition to the state police sergeant.

“These officers don’t want to shoot anybody. It’s tragic,” Jacobson said. He added that he knew the man who died, and has been familiar with his family from Jacobson’s days as a walking beat officer in the Hill.

The state police press release does not identify the names of the shooting victim or the officers who fired their weapons. It does state that no law enforcement personnel were injured, and that the scene had been secured.

The Office of the Inspector General will lead the investigation of this incident, with the assistance of the New Haven States Attorney.

In a separate phone interview Friday morning, Mayor Justin Elicker said that the Office of the Inspector General has told him and the police chief that they cannot publicly release the name of the victim or the names of the police officers involved, and that the inspector general’s office is in charge of releasing that info. He also said that, per the state’s police accountability bill, the inspector general’s office will release body camera footage from the incident within 96 hours.

Elicker said he was at the hospital Thursday with the family of the victim, and reiterated how tragic the shooting death was.