Man dies in shooting involving officers
EASTON, Conn. - A man was shot and killed yesterday by police after a confrontation with officers as they entered an Easton home with a search warrant, police said.
Two police officers and an occupant of the house on Dogwood Drive were treated at a local hospital for undisclosed injuries that were not considered life-threatening, police said.
The shooting occurred yesterday afternoon at a house in a normally quiet neighborhood near the Merritt Parkway, police said.
The Connecticut Post reported on its website yesterday that Easton police had responded to the same house just before dawn May 7 when someone fired four shots through its windows during a drive-by shooting.
Officers from a regional team representing six local police departments were helping Easton officers serve a search warrant yesterday when they encountered the homeowner and another person, State Police Lieutenant J. Paul Vance said.
A local police officer fatally shot the second person after he "charged the entry team and physically encountered two of the police officers," Vance said.
Specifics of the confrontation, including whether the resident had a weapon, were not disclosed.
The identities of everyone involved were being withheld yesterday to give police time to notify their families, Vance said.
The state medical examiner is expected to conduct an autopsy today.
Connecticut State Police and investigators from the state's attorney's office are investigating.
The Connecticut Post reported a 42-year-old man who lived in the home had been arrested in April on drug charges, about a month before someone fired several shotgun rounds through the home's windows.
Residents of the neighborhood told the newspaper they saw officers arrive in combat gear yesterday and force open the door, then heard several shots.
Dogwood Drive resident Gerry O'Brien said the resident was not part of the area's tight-knit neighborhood association.
He said they had scheduled a meeting yesterday and asked an officer to attend so they could share their concerns about activity at the home, but were told one would not be available.
"They said they would be busy working on a case," he said, adding that yesterday's events at the house did not surprise neighbors because there had been police activity there in the past.
