Police bodycam footage shows man armed with knife at CT park charging at officers before shooting
A man shot by police officers in Naugatuck last week was armed with a knife and charged at police multiple times before two officers fired their weapons, according to a preliminary report released by the Connecticut Inspector General.
Inspector General Robert Devlin Jr. released his preliminary report and body camera footage of the incident on April 25, identifying the man who was shot as 24-year-old Kyle O’Creene.
According to Devlin’s report, which was released along with bodycam footage from Officer Crystal Hudson and Officer Joseph Palhete, police encountered O’Creene next to a picnic table when they responded to Baummer’s Pond Park last Thursday at 9:12 a.m. on the report of a man with a knife acting erratically.
Report of man armed with knife at CT pond leads to officer-involved shooting
Bodycam footage shows officers asking him to sit down and telling him multiple times to put the knife down.
Within seconds an officer tells O’Creene he will be tasered as police continue to yell for him to drop the weapon. Palhete’s bodycam shows him deploy a taser that he immediately tells other officers was “ineffective.”
Palhete then advises other officers to get distance and tells O’Creene once again to put the knife down as O’Creene marches toward other officers, the footage shows. Recognizing that multiple police have guns drawn as they are surrounding O’Creene, Palhete shouts to “watch the crossfire. Crossfire. Crossfire.”
At this point, O’Creene looks to be running toward multiple officers who appear to have tasers or a gun drawn, the footage shows. The officers hastily back away from O’Creene’s advances as police again shout for him to put the knife down.
Police were able to create more distance between them and O’Creene momentarily before he began advancing toward them once again, the footage shows. Palhete shouts out “Dude, come on, put it down” seconds before he fires his gun twice and radios in “Shots fired, shots fired.”
O’Creene hesitates for a moment then continues advancing toward an officer, at which point Hudson fires one shot, the footage shows. O’Creene then stumbles around for a few seconds before an officer helps him down to the ground and he is given medical attention.
“Officers on scene immediately commenced providing medical aid to O’Creene who was ultimately taken to Waterbury Hospital for treatment,” Devlin wrote in his preliminary report.
According to Devlin, O’Creene has been listed in stable condition.
The shooting is being investigated by Devlin’s office with assistance from the Connecticut State Police Central District Major Crime Squad, the Naugatuck Police Department and the Waterbury State’s Attorney’s Office.
Devlin’s office is tasked with determining if the officers’ use of deadly force was justified under Connecticut law.