January 15, 2020, still image from console camera video released by Connecticut State Police shows Army Serviceman Brian North after disarming and fatally shooting Mubarak Soulemane following a high-speed chase.
Connecticut State Police via AP, File
hide captions
switch captions
Connecticut State Police via AP, File
January 15, 2020, still image from console camera video released by Connecticut State Police shows Army Serviceman Brian North after disarming and fatally shooting Mubarak Soulemane following a high-speed chase.
Connecticut State Police via AP, File
HARTFORD. said on Wednesday.
Soldier Brian North personally went to meet the state inspector general Tuesday night at the state police barracks in Bethany, state police said. North was released from prison after posting a $50,000 bail, placed on paid administrative leave and his police powers suspended.
North fatally shot 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 while Soulemane was in the driver’s seat of a car in West Haven, where the chase ended and police apprehended the vehicle. North told officials he feared Soulemane would attack other officers with knives.
Soulemane’s family, the NAACP and other groups say North, who is white, should not have shot Soulemane, who is black, because the police surrounded him and he was unable to escape. Soulemane had a knife, but he was in the car alone and police should have tried to clarify the situation, they said.
“Thank God Soldier Brian North was arrested,” Soulemane’s mother, Omo Mohammed, said in a statement provided by her lawyers. “Now I want to see him convicted and sent to prison.”
Soulemane is a community college student with schizophrenia, his family said. Mohammed has a false claim pending against North and other officers present at the scene.
Mark Arons, attorney for Soulemane’s family, said: “Mubarak Soulemane’s family is delighted that after more than two years, Soldier Brian North, who murdered Mubarak in West Haven in January 2020, may be able to brought to justice,” Mark Arons, an attorney for the Soulemane family, said in a statement. . “It’s been a long road ahead. But it’s a good day.”
North did not return an email seeking comment. A message was left in a phone list for him. A message was also sent to his attorney, Jeffrey Ment. North is scheduled to be sorted May 3 in Milford Superior Court.
An investigative report stated that the victim did not pose an imminent danger
In a report released Wednesday morning, Inspector General Robert Devlin’s office said the shooting was unfounded.
“By the time Trooper North fired his weapon, both he and any other person were at risk of serious injury or death from a knife attack at the hands of Soulemane,” the report said. “Moreover, any belief that people are in such danger is unreasonable.”
The report also included a lengthy North statement about the shooting. He said Soulemane was “aggressively wielding a knife” and appeared to be preparing to attack other officers who were outside the vehicle.
“Based on these circumstances, I believe (other officers) are at risk of serious injury or death, and possibly a stab wound to the neck or face as they attempt to enter the vehicle and remove the suspect. As a result, I fired the gun on my duty to eliminate the threat.”
In a statement, the Connecticut State Police Union said it was disappointed that the office of the inspector general, which investigates police use of deadly force, had decided to prosecute North. The union defends North’s actions.
The union said North was “forced to make decisions in a split second in these dangerous and rapidly evolving circumstances. Soldier North risked his life while trying to fulfill his oath to protect his identity. the lives of others.”
On the day of the shooting, Soulemane, whose mental health appeared to be declining in the days before his murder, attempted to steal a cell phone from a store in Norwalk but failed and fled. in a car he stole from a Lyft driver, the Devlin report said.
Soulemane led police in a nearly 30-mile (48 km) chase from Norwalk to West Haven, reaching speeds of 100 mph (161 km/h) on Interstate 95, the report said.
Norwalk police at one point stopped pursuing Soulemane because of the danger, but state troops, including North, continued pursuit after Soulemane reported hitting several vehicles.
In West Haven, state police said Soulemane escaped, crashed into a resident’s car and was immediately arrested by police. Police said officers asked him to get out of the car, but he refused.
State police body camera video shows a West Haven officer smashing the passenger window of a stolen vehicle before another soldier shoots Soulemane with a stun gun.
State police said North then fired seven pistol shots through the driver’s window when Soulemane displayed the knife.
North is the third Connecticut police officer to be arrested for a fatal shooting.
Milford’s new cop, Scott Smith, pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and was sentenced to two years’ probation for the 1998 shooting death of 19-year-old Franklyn Reid. Smith committed suicide in 2013.
Hartford police officer Robert Lawlor was charged with manslaughter but was later acquitted in the 2005 shooting and unarmed murder, Jason Bryant.
In a non-fatal shooting in 2019, Hamden officer Devin Eaton was arrested and pleaded not guilty to assault in January. Eaton is awaiting sentencing and faces 18 months in prison under his plea agreement.
