Slain Teen’s Family Seeks Answers

State police shot to death a 19-year-old Fair Havener who was schizophrenic and a second-year Gateway Community College student who loved basketball and lacrosse.

The brother and uncle of Mubarak Soulemane painted that picture Friday amid calls for a federal probe.

Hours later, state police released body cam and dash cam footage from the car chase and shooting — revealing a state trooper firing a handful of shots at Soulemane through a closed driver-side window.

The brother and uncle of the officer-involved shooting victim, Mubarak Soulemane, painted that picture of their suddenly gone family member Friday morning at a press conference convened by Rev. Boise Kimber and a half-dozen fellow local clergy at the First Calvary Baptist Church on Dixwell Avenue in Newhallville.

Soulemane was shot and killed Wednesday in West Haven after his alleged involvement in a car theft in Norwalk led to a local and state police chase. One state police trooper has been placed on administrative assignment after the fatal shooting.

His case has raised questions about why state police conducted a high-space chase that Norwalk police had called off; and whether they needed to shoot when dealing with a mentally ill man who allegedly had a knife.

Update: State police released on Friday dash cam and body cam video and audio from the highway chase and shooting. Click on the video at the top of the article to watch. The shooting takes place at the 1:02:45 mark of the video.

Two state troopers can be seen rushing up to Soulemane’s car with their guns drawn. One fires six or seven shots through the closed driver-side window roughly 30 seconds later. That trooper then removes an object from the car and places it on the car’s hood.

Saeed Soulemane, 25, described his late brother Friday as ​“very outgoing” and ​“very loving.”

“He wants to put a smile on everyone’s face,” he said at a press conference convened at First Calvary Baptist Church on Dixwell Avenue.

Saeed Soulemane said Mubarak (whom most reports so far have misidentified as having the first name, not the last name, Soulemane) was the youngest of five siblings. He had recently graduated from Notre Dame High School in Fairfield, and was a second-year student at Gateway Community College who aspired to attend Roger Williams University in Rhode Island.

“He was a really bright student,” Saeed said. ​“He had his ups and downs. But he managed to pull through Notre Dame with a 3.5 GPA.”

“My brother never even got to experience that college experience,” he said.

“He’s not violent,” added Saeed’s maternal uncle, Tahir Mohammad, who said he came up to New Haven from his home in New York after he found out about his nephew’s death. He said his sister, Mubarak and Saeed’s mother, is currently on her way back to New Haven from Ghana.

“Mubarak has no criminal record,” Mohammad said. ​“He’s never been violent to anyone outside the house and the home.”

A review of the state’s online judicial database showed that Mubarak Soulemane no past criminal convictions. He does have two pending criminal cases, according to the judicial database. One is for not obeying a stop sign and for driving with a suspended license. In the second case the charges have been statutorily sealed and are not visible for public view.

“I’ll Never Forget You”

Saeed and Mohammad’s description of Mubarak rang true with a public Facebook post made Thursday by one of Mubarak’s former teachers at Notre Dame High School, Jessica Mazal.

“This was one of my very first students,” she wrote. ​“He had the brightest smile and a beautiful but wounded heart. When they tell you he was a criminal, or just another black boy, remember he came from a broken family and had it harder than most. When they tell you he was a thug, remember he was a great lacrosse and basketball player. When they tell you that cops have to ​“defend themselves” remember he didn’t have a gun. Like usual. Another young black boy killed by cops who can’t do their job well. And if this angers you, please delete me. I’m angry too.

“Mubi, I’m so happy I taught you. I’m so happy you challenged me as a teacher. I’m happy that when I disciplined you, you apologized and treated me with kindness. I’m grateful you always asked me how I was doing, always smiled at me in the hallway, and always said hello. I’m sorry the world didn’t do justice by you.

“I’m sorry you didn’t always have the love and support you deserved. I’ll never forget you, and I promise that now that this has hit so close to home, I’ll NEVER shut my mouth in the face of injustice.

“America. Stop killing black and brown men.”

“He Never Came Back”

Saeed Soulemane said that he spoke with the New Haven police earlier this week about his brother. A New Haven police officer spoke on the phone with Mubarak, a day before his brother state troopers shot and killed him.

Saeed said that his brother left their house on Blatchley Avenue at around 3 p.m. Tuesday.

“I was really concerned,” he said. ​“I was calling him, telling him to come back to the house. He never came back.”

He said he called the city police to let him know that his brother had gone missing, and that a local officer came to his house Wednesday morning to ask about Mubarak.

Saeed said he told the officer that Mubarak has schizophrenia. He said that officer went back to his car, called Mubarak, and that the officer and Mubarak spoke briefly. He said the officer told Mubarak that his brother, Saeed, was concerned about his whereabouts.

“My brother hung up on” the officer, Saeed said.

Saeed said the officer came back to the house, promised to put Mubarak’s name and info into a missing persons report, and asked Saeed to stay calm and to try to cool down his brother when he found his way home.

At 1 a.m. Thursday, Saeed said, he heard a pounding on his front door.

“I wake up. I’m scared. I’m thinking this is my brother.” Instead, he found three state troopers. He let them in, and they told him that his brother had been shot and killed.

“I don’t know how to feel at this moment,” Saeed said. ​“There’s definitely an injustice. Something’s gotta give. This can’t keep happening.”

Mohammad said that his nephew’s mental illness was well know to Norwalk police, West Haven police, and New Haven police. ​“Mubarak has a mental health issue,” he said.

“Norwalk cops knew of him. West Haven cops knew of him. New Haven cops are aware of this.”

“All the family wants is, we want some answers,” he said. ​“That’s all we want. Cause they’re not telling us enough. He was in the car. He was shot sitting down in the car. That doesn’t make sense to us. So we want some answers. That’s all we want.”

“Deadly Pandemic”

The Rev. Boise Kimber and the fellow pastors who organized the press conference Friday called on the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate the shooting. This shouldn’t be left to the state to investigate, Kimber said, because that would mean that one state agency would be investigating another.

“Car pursuits by police are a dangerous and deadly pandemic in Connecticut,” the state American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement (which can be read in full here ). ​“It is deeply concerning that despite the legislature taking action to try to rein in these deadly police decisions, 2020 has begun with policing chasing and killing another person. When police choose to chase someone in a car, they are escalating a situation and endangering the lives of police, pedestrians, and all motorists on that road.”

Some of the outstanding questions about the killing may be addressed in coming days when the state police release video footage of the incident.

“Transparency and accountability in law enforcement has been our most critical goal since my appointment,” state public safety Commissioner James Rovella is quoted as saying in press release Thursday. ​“Never is this more crucial than during the period immediately following a police involved shooting, especially when there is a loss of life. Governor Ned Lamont signed into a law a measure that ensures the public has body camera and dash cam video within 96 hours of the use of deadly force, a measure I supported in my role as Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP). DESPP staff is working to get the video and much more info out to the community well ahead of the 96 hour mandate. We hope that the release of the information provides the transparency and some of the answers our community deserves.”