State police fatally shoot man after carjacking, highway chase from Norwalk to West Haven

A man was shot and killed by Connecticut State Police after a reported carjacking at knife-point in Norwalk led to a dangerous pursuit along Interstate 95 into West Haven late Wednesday afternoon.

Troopers reported the man was intentionally colliding with other cars on the interstate during the chase before it finally ended shortly before 5:30 p.m. when he was stopped in traffic at Exit 43 on Campbell Avenue in West Haven, where investigators continued to scour the scene late Wednesday night.

The man, who has not been identified by police, was shot by troopers after an altercation there and transported to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, state police told reporters gathered at the scene a few hours later.

No troopers, other drivers or bystanders were injured, state police Col. Stavros Mellekas said.

Few details about the encounter were immediately available. Mellekas said three troopers were involved but could only say that “some shots” were fired, without specifying how many.

He stressed the information was preliminary late Wednesday and more information, including the names of the troopers, would be released Thursday.

“The detectives are still processing the scene and they’ll get to the bottom of it,” Mellekas said.

The incident began at 4:30 p.m. when Norwalk police were called to the AT&T store on Route 7 for a reported disturbance involving a man with a knife, Norwalk Lt. Jared Zwickler said.

Police were still on their way when the man stole a car and then fled from Norwalk police, Zwickler said. Norwalk supervisors terminated their department’s brief chase a few moments later and notified surrounding agencies, including state police, of a description of the incident and suspect vehicle, he added.

State police troopers found the car on the interstate shortly thereafter and the car fled again, this time causing “intentional collisions” with other cars and police cruisers on the highway, Mellekas said. Police could not describe exactly how the crashes occurred, citing pending reviews with the troopers involved, but noted no one else was injured.

The man was stopped in traffic on Campbell Avenue when he had a confrontation with the troopers, including more “intentional collisions,” before he was shot, Mellekas said.

Investigators recovered a knife inside the vehicle.

Police also did not say how many of the troopers fired or how many times or where the man was shot.

At least two of the troopers were wearing body cameras at the time of the shooting and that footage will be made available “in the very near future,” Mellekas said. The chase and shooting also should be captured, at least in part, on the involved cruiser’s dashboard cameras, police added.

Both the shooting and initial incident in Norwalk remained under investigation late Wednesday.

The man has been taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and is expected to be positively identified there, police said.

Acting Chief State’s Attorney John Russotto assigned New London State’s Attorney Michael L. Regan to review the deadly shooting and determine if the troopers’ actions were within the law.

Zach Murdock can be reached at zmurdock@courant.com.