Hartford, Conon. (AP) – A Connecticut state soldier who fired seven guns at a car and killed a man in 2020 after a high -speed chase was charged with murder after more than two years of investigation found no shootings. Reasonable, officials said Wednesday.
Private Brian North was taken to Bethany state police barracks with the state police inspector general on Tuesday night, state police said. North was released on $ 50,000 bail, paid administrative leave, and police powers were suspended.
North shot 19-year-old Mubarak Suleiman to death in January 2020, when Suleman was sitting in the driver’s seat in West Haven, where the chase ended, and police put him in the car. North told officers he was afraid Soulman would attack other officers with a knife.
Suleiman’s family, the NAACP and other groups said North, who was white, should not have shot Suleiman, who was black, because he was surrounded by police and could not escape. Suleman had a knife, but he himself was in the car and the police had to try to reduce the situation.
According to his family, Sulman is a community college student suffering from schizophrenia.
“The Mubarak Suleiman family is so happy that after more than 2 years, Private Brian North, who killed Mubarak in West Haven in January 2020, can be brought to justice,” said Mark Arons, an attorney for the Suleiman family. . “There is still a long way to go. But it was a good day. “
North did not return the email for comment. A message was left in his phone book. The message was also sent to his attorney, Jeffrey Ment. North’s trial will begin May 3 in Milford High Court.
In a report released Wednesday morning, Inspector General Robert Devlin’s office said the shooting was unreasonable.
“By the time the officer fired his weapon, neither he nor anyone else was in danger of serious injury or death as a result of Suleiman’s stabbing,” the report said. “Furthermore, any belief that people are in such danger is unreasonable.”
The report also includes extensive statements from the North on the hunt. He said Suleiman was “aggressively holding a knife” and appeared to be preparing to attack other officers outside the car.
“Under these circumstances, I believe (other officers) are in imminent risk of serious physical injury or death and could be shot in the neck or face when they try to get in the car and remove the suspect.” As a result, I quit my job as a firefighter to eliminate the threat. “
The Connecticut State Police Union said in a statement it was disappointed that the Inspector General’s Office, which is investigating police use of lethal force, had decided to punish the North. The union defended the North’s actions.
Source: Huffpost
