State trooper charged with manslaughter for shooting teen in 2020
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut state trooper who fired seven gunshots into a car and killed a man in 2020 after a high-speed chase has been charged with manslaughter after a more than two-year investigation found the shooting not to be justified, officials said Wednesday.
Trooper Brian North turned himself in to the state inspector general at the state police barracks in Bethany on Tuesday evening, state police said. Officials said North was released after posting $50,000 bail, was placed on paid administrative leave and his police powers were suspended.
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North fatally shot Mubarak Soulemane, 19, in January 2020 as Soulemane sat in the driver's seat of a car in West Haven, where the chase ended and police boxed in the car.
Soulemane's family, the NAACP and other groups said North, who is white, should not have shot Soulemane, who was Black, because police had him surrounded and he could not get away. Soulemane had a knife, but police should have attempted to deescalate the situation, they said.
"The family of Mubarak Soulemane is very happy that, after 2+ years, Trooper Brian North, who murdered Mubarak in West Haven in January 2020, may be brought to justice," Mark Arons, a lawyer for Soulemane's family, said in a statement. "It's a long road ahead. But this is a good day."
A still image from dashboard camera video released by the Connecticut State Police shows Trooper Brian North after fatally shooting Mubarak Soulemane following a high-speed chase that ended in West Haven, Conn., Jan. 15, 2020. (Connecticut State Poli
North did not return an email seeking comment, and a message was left at a phone listing for him. A message also was sent to his lawyer, Jeffrey Ment. North is scheduled to be arraigned in Milford Superior Court on May 3.
In a report released Wednesday morning, Inspector General Robert Devlin's office said the shooting was not justified.
"At the time Trooper North fired his weapon, neither he nor any other person was in imminent danger of serious injury or death from a knife attack at the hands of Soulemane," the report said. "Further, any belief that persons were in such danger was not reasonable."
The report also includes a lengthy statement by North on the shooting. He said Soulemane was "holding the knife in an aggressive manner" and appeared to be preparing to attack other officers who were outside the car.
"Based on these circumstances, I believed that (the other officers) were at imminent risk of serious physical injury or death, and could have been stabbed in the neck or face as they attempted to enter the vehicle and remove the suspect. As a result, I discharged my duty firearm to eliminate the threat."
The Connecticut State Police Union said in a statement that it was disappointed the inspector general's office, which investigates police use of deadly force, decided to prosecute North. The union defended North's actions.
The union said North "was forced to make a split-second decision during these dangerous and rapidly evolving circumstances. Trooper North was risking his own life while trying to fulfill his oath of office to protect the lives of others."
On the day of the shooting, Soulemane, whose mental health appeared to have deteriorated in the days before he was killed, tried unsuccessfully to steal a cellphone from a store in Norwalk and fled in a Lyft car he summoned, Devlin's report said.
The driver began driving away as officers were arriving at the scene but stopped, got out and pulled his gun on the teen who had slapped him in the head after he was refused the driver's phone, the report said.
As the driver tried to get an officer's attention, Soulemane got into the driver's seat of the car and led police on a chase of nearly 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Norwalk to West Haven that reached speeds of 100 mph (161 kph) on Interstate 95, the report said.
Norwalk police at one point stopped pursuing Soulemane because of the dangers, but state troopers including North resumed the chase after Soulemane had reportedly struck several vehicles.
In West Haven, state police said Soulemane took an exit, rear-ended a civilian's vehicle and was immediately boxed in by police.
State police body camera videos show a West Haven officer smashing out the passenger door window of the stolen car before another trooper shoots Soulemane with a stun gun, which didn't work.
North then fired his handgun seven times through the driver's door window when Soulemane displayed the knife, state police said.
Soulemane's family, who said he was a community college student who had schizophrenia, has protested the shooting, along with the NAACP and other groups.
North is the third Connecticut police officer to be arrested for a fatal shooting.
New Milford officer Scott Smith pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and was sentenced to two years probation for the 1998 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Franklyn Reid. Authorities said Reid was lying on his stomach when Smith put a foot on Reid's back and shot him in the back. Smith said the shooting was self-defense. Smith killed himself in 2013, officials said.
Hartford officer Robert Lawlor was charged with manslaughter but was later acquitted in the 2005 shooting death of an unarmed man, Jashon Bryant.
In a non-fatal shooting in 2019, Hamden officer Devin Eaton was arrested and pleaded no contest to felony assault in January. Police say Eaton fired his gun 13 times at an unarmed couple's car and wounded a woman and another officer, who both survived. Eaton awaits sentencing and faces up to 18 months in prison under his plea agreement.