Connecticut officer fired after shooting man in mental health crisis as others tried to de-escalate | Connecticut

A white Connecticut police officer who fatally shot a black man 30 seconds after arriving at the scene, where three officers spent several minutes de-escalating the situation, was fired Friday.

Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said in a statement that he immediately terminated Officer Joseph Magnano’s employment in connection with the shooting of Steven Jones, who was found with a knife in his hand on a city street on February 27. The killing came eight days after a different Hartford police officer fatally shot another man in a mental health crisis.

“In body-worn camera footage of the incident, as well as publicly shared videos, I saw three officers working together as a team to de-escalate the mental health crisis in a way that exemplifies our police department at its best,” Arulampalam said. “Officer Magnano’s actions do not meet these standards.”

A Hartford police spokesman referred questions to Chief James Rovella, who did not immediately respond to a phone message or email on March 27. The police union did not immediately respond to an email message. The union defends Magnano’s actions, saying in social media posts that the use of force was legal.

Contact information for Magnano, who is new to the agency and remains under surveillance, was not immediately available.

The state inspector general’s office is investigating the shooting and will decide whether to file criminal charges against Magnano. Earlier this month, the office released body camera footage of the four officers who responded to the scene.

Jones’ sister, Audrey Jones, called 911 for help because her brother was having a mental health crisis and reported that her brother was holding a knife and had cut himself.

Body camera footage shows Steven Jones on a city street as three officers tell him to drop the knife he was holding for several minutes. Officers also say they were there to help him.

Officer James Prignano told him, “Steve, you’re okay. We’ll make sure you’re okay.” “Put the knife down. We’ll talk to someone, okay?”

Jones cannot be heard saying anything in the videos.

In the video, about 12 minutes after the 911 call, Magnano arrives and draws his gun while also ordering Jones to drop the knife and telling him, “You’re going to be shot.” I heard a woman yell, “Don’t shoot him!” He can be heard shouting.

In the videos, Prignano appears to point at Magnano and tell him to back off. As Jones slowly walked toward Magnano, the officer gave a final warning about 30 seconds after getting out of his cruiser before shooting Jones nine times, the video shows.

Jones died at the hospital four days later, authorities said.