Hamden Cop Shoots Woman In Newhallville

Updated:
• Cops claim unarmed robbery suspect ​“exited vehicle abruptly,” causing officers to shoot.
• Suspect subsequently released with no charges filed.
• Passenger shot in torso. She has been identified as Stephanie Washington, 22.
• Video (above) raises questions about official version.
• Harp sets up meeting with Hamden, Yale, New Haven chiefs.
• Newhallville ministers: ​“We want answers.”
• No New Haven cops involved.

The incident occurred in the area of Argyle Street and Dixwell Avenue.

It has already sparked budding protests, with a black clergy press conference held at 3 p.m. and a protest rally planned for 5:30 outside Hamden police headquarters, as well as a 7 p.m. public discussion at the NAACP office at 423 Dixwell Ave. It is the latest in a string of recent incidents that have focused criticism on the Hamden police, including calls for the creation of a civilian review board to review misconduct.

New Haven Mayor Toni Harp said she is convening a teleconference Wednesday morning with Hamden Mayor Curt Leng and the chiefs of the New Haven, Hamden and Yale departments. Leng confirmed the meeting.

“It’s unfortunate when anyone is a victim of gun violence,” Harp told the Independent. ​“My heart goes out to the young woman and to her family.”

“I remain gravely concerned about what transpired,” she added in a statement that she provided in a press release. ​“I called the mother of the young woman who was shot to express my concern and wish the young woman a thorough recovery.”

Len promised that the incident will be investigated ​“with the utmost seriousness it deserves.”

The Official Version

The episode began when Hamden police investigated a possible robbery at 4:19 a.m.

State Trooper Josue Dorelus offered the official version of the event at a press conference at the scene mid-Tuesday. (Watch it here, courtesy of WFSB.)

According to Dorelus, Hamden cops were responding to a report that a man attempted an armed robbery of a newspaper delivery person at a gas station. They looked for a red Honda Civic the alleged assailant was driving.

They believe they spotted it soon after at Argyle and Dixwell across the border in New Haven.

Yale cops came to back up Hamden cops. New Haven cops were present.

A Hamden officer directed the male driver to get out of the car with his hands up, but he refused, and instead ​“exited the vehicle in an abrupt manner” and turned toward the officer, Dorelus claimed. At that point, both Hamden and Yale cops fired an unknown number of bullets.

At least one of those bullets struck a woman in the front passenger seat — or as Dorelus put it, she was struck ​“at least one time in the lower torso.” She received medical attention on site, then was taken to the hospital, where she’s listed in stable condition.

A law enforcement official familiar with the incident confirmed that the woman’s name is Stephanie Washington, who is 22 years old. She was struck that one time (contrary to some information posted on social media).

Police arrested the man, Paul Witherspoon. Dorelus at the press conference refused to identify the man or the woman or to list the charges.

So far police have found no weapons in the vehicle, according to Dorelus. ​“A detailed search of the vehicle has not been conducted yet,” he added. The man was not carrying a weapon when the officers fired.

A neighbor took a cellphone video of the incident, which does not appear to show the driver exiting the car.

Click the video at the top of the story to see the footage provided by a Dixwell Avenue resident, Troy Streater (pictured near the scene), who said he did not record it. (Click the video below for a shorter, clearer video from WTNH’s Kent Pierce’s Twitter feed and see another video at the bottom of the story from Larry Mingrone that shows the aftermath of the shooting.)

Surveillance video shows the moment a Hamden Police Officer opens fire on a car in New Haven. pic.twitter.com/h7IrwPbcgo

— Kent Pierce (@kentpierce8) April 16, 2019

Troy Streater, who lives on Dixwell Avenue near where the shooting took place, declined to identify the neighbor who had taken the video, Streater, who works at the 180 Center on Grand Avenue from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays, said he was at work at the time of the shooting. He said his mom reached out to him soon after the shooting took place.

“It’s scary,” he said. ​“I just think the police should be more careful.”

At the press conference, Hamden Acting Police Chief John Cappiello was asked why Hamden cops crossed over into New Haven and whether they contacted New Haven police for assistance.

“I’m not going to comment on the investigation. An internal affairs investigation will be conducted. We’ll have to wait” for that outcome, he responded.

Shooting Target Released

The mother of Paul Witherspoon (pictured), the 21-year-old Hamden resident who was driving the car that Hamden and Yale police shot at, reported Tuesday evening that her son has been released from police custody with no charges filed.

A law enforcement official familiar with the case confirmed her report.

(Click here for an interview with driver Witherspoon by WTNH’s Mario Boone.)

“If you knew the whole story,” she told a crowd of around 150 people who gathered at the corner of Dixwell and Argyle at dusk on Tuesday, ​“then you would know that those two people were not the people that they were looking for.” (She declined to give her name to a reporter.)

She said that police need to start treating young people like Witherspoon and Stephanie Washington, the woman who was shot by Yale and Hamden police, as if they were kids of their own.

“Our children are important to us,” she said. ​“But these cops need to know that those kids are their kids too.”

Ministers: ​“We Want Answers”

Newhallville ministers blasted the Hamden police handling of the incident at a press conference held at 3 p.m. Tuesday at First Calvary Baptist Church.

They questioned why Hamden cops crossed into New Haven, allegedly without notifying New Haven; and, based on what people saw in the video, why an officer got out and started shooting at a car containing an unarmed individual.

“We want answers,” declared Rev. Boise Kimber, who led the press conference.

“It’s a terrible action to see a police officer get out of his car, start shooting … run and start shooting again. … This officer got out of his vehicle and started shooting. Nobody tried to run over you. You blocked the car in. No gun.”

Kimber called for the release of Hamden and Yale police body camera footage. He criticized Hamden police for not offering any public information since the incident occurred. He added that Hamden and Yale police chiefs have spoken with the ministers, but ​“we have not been able to contact Hamden police department. They are not answering the phone.”

“There needs to be price paid for breaking policies. Because black lives do matter,” added the Rev. Scott Marks.

Pastor John Lewis, who does peace and reconciliation work, suggested that the Hamden officer he saw shooting in the video may have felt uncomfortable entering New Haven.

“Maybe automatically he went from one to five. That’s what I saw when I saw that video. The officer running, shooting backwards. He could have hit one of his fellow officers the way he was shooting.”

After the press conference, ministers then walked to the shooting scene and led chants along the way. Click on the video to watch. During a group prayer inside the NAACP headquarters at 423 Dixwell Ave., Marks said his birthday is April 15. Twenty-two years ago, he woke up on his birthday to learn that Malik Jones had been killed by East Haven police.

Then this morning, the day after his birthday, he learned about this latest shooting. ​“Every day on my birthday, I wake up and I think, is another one of ours gonna get shot,” he said.

An experienced law enforcement official noted that Hamden probably put out a broadcast that it was looking for the car, since Yale police were on scene. No official protocol exists about specifically informing a neighboring police department that officers are about to enter its jurisdiction.

“Officers can go from one jurisdiction from another if there’s a felony. Good practice, good relationship? You want to have a good relationship with another police department and let them know, ​‘We’re in your town looking for a guy.’ It’s good practice. It’s sound practice. There’s no protocol.”

The state police Major Crime Unit is handling the investigation of the incident.

Leng Issues Statement

Hamden Mayor Leng issued a statement at 5 p.m. to the Independent.

“Every single time a gun is fired in our community, it has my concern and my immediate attention,” he said.

“Please know that this incident is being investigated with the utmost seriousness it deserves. The State of Connecticut has come in to conduct a full investigation.

“As mayor, I will need to hold off on any further public comments to ensure nothing I say has even the slightest chance of tainting what I trust will be a comprehensive investigation and evaluation by the state.”

Recent car chases by Hamden cops have led the department to revisit is chase policy, with an eye toward dramatically limiting them. Click here to read about that.

In the last year, Hamden has had two fatalities that resulted from police chases — one in August, and one on New Year’s. In both cases, it was a passenger, and not the driver of the pursued car, who died.