The state Inspector General on Tuesday identified a man who was shot and killed by a city police officer after he wounded another officer who was trying to disarm him, body camera footage shows.
The man killed by West Haven police was identified as 33-year-old Jovan Washington.
The inspector general released a preliminary report of the shooting, which occurred around 2 a.m. Friday inside an apartment on Terrace Avenue. The inspector general also released portions of body camera footage from Officer Cody Bacon, who was wounded, and Officer Alex Triscritti, who was seen firing the fatal shots.
Inspector General Richard Devlin said the officers were trying to arrest Washington on a domestic violence complaint. Devlin said Washington was accused of trying to strangle the victim and refused to leave the apartment.
The videos show Washington in bed and the officers asking him whether he wanted to get dressed before being taken into custody. Washington then turned and grabbed a gun that was hidden under the mattress, the videos show.
Several West Haven police officers struggled to disarm Washington on the floor next to the bed, the videos show. The gun then discharged, striking Bacon in the leg, according to the footage.
Triscritti, who was standing in the corner and stayed out of the brawl on the floor, retreated back into the room’s entryway after the first shot rang out, the footage shows.
“Shots fired, shots fired,” he called into his radio, according to his body camera.
Gun drawn, Triscritti then advanced back into the room and fired three shots into Washington as he struggled with Bacon and another officer on the floor at the edge of the bed, the footage shows. The footage shows about eight seconds elapsed between the gun discharging into Bacon’s leg and the shots fired by Triscritti.
Despite having been shot, Washington still refused to let go of the gun as officers shouted at him to drop the weapon, the videos show.
Bacon eventually took the gun from Washington’s grasp, the videos show.
The officers continued to shout at Washington to drop the gun, despite it being in Bacon’s hand by that point, the videos show.
The inspector general’s office said officers provided medical aid to Washington before he was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The fatal shooting is among 13 police use-of-force incidents this year that are under investigation by the inspector general. The Office of the Inspector General is tasked with investigating use-of-force incidents by police and other “peace officers.”
The state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the cause of Washington’s death to be gunshot wounds to the torso and extremities, according to the preliminary report.
The death certificate and toxicological report — which would indicate if Washington had been under the influence of any substances at the time of the shooting — were not available, the report noted.
