HARTFORD – A rally is planned for noon Saturday in reaction to Friday’s shooting by Hartford police of a man who was wielding a knife.
The rally will take place at the Hartford police station at 253 High St.
The man who was shot was in critical condition, Hartford Police Lt. Aaron Boisvert has said. During the confrontation, a stun gun was deployed unsuccessfully, and the man “ignored verbal commands” before being shot, Boisvert said. Boisvert said the man was believed to be “suicidal.”
Neighbors said the man was a familiar presence around the Blue Hills neighborhood, and that he was known to have mental health issues, but that he was never a threat to others.
In a message on social media, rally organizers demanded accountability.
Hartford police on Blue Hill Avenue, where an officer shot a man wielding a knife on Friday morning. (Jim Michaud/Hearst Connecticut Media)
Multiple people criticized police for not successfully deescalating the situation before shooting the man. But others defended the actions of police, arguing that they were dealing with a man who was a danger to himself and others.
The shooting Friday was the second Hartford police shooting involving a man in a mental health crisis holding a knife in less than 10 days. Police shot and killed Everard Walker, 53, on Capitol Avenue last week after he brandished a knife at officers, according to an Inspector General’s report.
On Feb. 19, Hartford police officers killed Walker after responding to a call from a family member that Walker was suffering an “acute mental health crisis,” according to a report from the state Inspector General. The report noted that the Capitol Region Mental Health Center asked Hartford police officers accompany them to Walker’s apartment.
At Walker’s apartment, an altercation began between responding officers – including officers Alexander Clifford and Geovanny Rivera – as well as Walker and his two children, the report states.
“During the altercation, Walker brandished a knife. One or more officers ordered Walker to drop the knife, but he did not do so,” the report said. “Walker appeared to be poised to stab Officer Rivera, who had fallen backward.”
Clifford then fired several shots, and after receiving medical attention at the scene, Walker was taken to Saint Francis Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the report.
Menen Walker, one of Walker’s daughters, said she and her siblings were trying to get their father to the hospital. He previously had been diagnosed with psychosis, and he had not been eating or sleeping since the October death of another daughter.
Ken Krayeske, who is representing the family, said the family called 211 that morning because they did not want the police to be present when they were trying to get help for Walker, whose medication had run out.
Krayeske said he plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the Hartford Police Department and the city unless officials meet with him within the next month to talk about what happened last week.
Rivera and Clifford are on administrative leave with pay as the deadly use of force is investigated, according to Boisvert.
This story includes previous reporting by staff writers Nathaniel Rosenberg, Liz Hardaway, Christine Dempsey and Joshua Eaton.
This article originally published at Hartford rally planned for Saturday after police shoot knife-wielding man amid mental health crisis.