Man fatally shot by Hartford officer was ‘acting very deranged’, appeared to point rifle at police, according to State’s Attorney report
The 30-year-old man killed in a confrontation with Hartford police Saturday night appeared to point a rifle at police before he was fatally shot by an officer, according to a preliminary report from the state’s attorney’s office.
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HARTFORD — The man killed in a confrontation with Hartford police Saturday night “appeared to point a rifle in the direction of police” before he was fatally shot by an officer, according to a preliminary report from the state’s attorney’s office.
Police were summoned to Gilman Street in the city’s South End by a 911 caller reporting a man was carrying a gun in the street and “acting very deranged,” according to the report released Tuesday by Margaret Kelley, state’s attorney for the Judicial District of Ansonia-Milford. Records from a recent arrest also indicate the man, Shamar Ogman of 27 Gilman St., suffered from mental illness.
Ogman, 30, ran through backyards and jumped fences as officers chased him through the area in the dark, according to Kelley’s report and body-worn camera footage also released Tuesday.
Throughout the brief foot chase and standoff, officers shout several times that Ogman is pointing or cocking the gun.
“Nobody has to get hurt tonight,” one of them shouts at Ogman between orders to put down the gun.
Officer Christopher Larson can be heard at one point saying he doesn’t see a magazine in the rifle, while Officer Joseph Walsh says later, “I don’t think it’s loaded.”
Ogman refused the near-constant orders and repeatedly yells “No” and “Shoot” at the officers training their guns on him.
One of the officers shouts, “There’s no reason for this, put it down, put it down, put it down,” and Ogman responds, “Shoot me! Shoot me!” and takes off again. About four minutes later, with Ogman cornered on the property next to his apartment building, Larson can be heard asking Walsh, “What are we doing with this? He’s pointing this gun a lot at us.”
Shortly after, Officer Ashley Martinez’s body camera captures her shouting, “He’s pointing it!” just before she fires one shot from her rifle, fatally wounding Ogman.
Officers immediately provided treatment until medical personnel arrived and continued assisting him, the state’s attorney said. Ogman was transported to Hartford Hospital, where he died Sunday.
Court records show Ogman was arrested twice in the two weeks before his death, along with an arrest outside his Gilman Street home in July for which he received a probation violation.
Hartford police received a 911 text on July 1 about a man sitting in a car with a firearm with a red beam on it, according to an arrest warrant. Officers found Ogman with a weapon in his lap that looked to be a black handgun with an extended magazine, but was actually a BB gun with an empty magazine.
A search turned up three other BB guns; Ogman told police he participates in airsoft tournaments. He was charged with gun offenses and with violating his probation, which stemmed from a prior conviction for first-degree robbery.
Ogman was arrested in Meriden on Dec. 15 on six felony gun possession charges, and again by Bloomfield police on Dec. 23 on two misdemeanors for allegedly assaulting an ex-girlfriend two weeks prior.
A domestic issue also appeared to spark the episode Saturday evening. A witness at the scene could be heard telling one of the officers that Ogman was upset with the mother of his daughter.
It was not clear Tuesday whether that is the same woman he’s accused of assaulting at their workplace, a grocery store in Bloomfield, three weeks ago.
When police spoke with Ogman about the Dec. 9 incident, he said he and the victim had just broken up and acknowledged they’d argued at work.
The victim reported that Ogman struck her in the face, while Ogman said he only pushed her. Police noted that the victim’s eyes were red, with some extended swelling and watering in her right eye.
Ogman told the officer that “he has a history of ‘mental issues,’ but they are ‘under control.’”
Ogman did not say what condition he may have, but “suggested it causes him to inappropriately manage his anger sometimes.”
Another grocery store employee witnessed the Dec. 9 incident and told police he heard the argument and saw Ogman “attack” the victim. The witness said he had begun to intervene when Ogman left the premises, according to the report.
Ogman was arrested in Meriden on Dec. 15 on six felony gun possession charges, and again by Bloomfield police on Dec. 23 on two misdemeanors for allegedly assaulting an ex-girlfriend two weeks prior.
A domestic issue also appeared to spark the episode Saturday evening. A witness at the scene could be heard telling one of the officers that Ogman was upset with the mother of his daughter.
It was not clear Tuesday whether that is the same woman he’s accused of assaulting at their workplace, a grocery store in Bloomfield, three weeks ago.
When police spoke with Ogman about the Dec. 9 incident, he said he and the victim had just broken up and acknowledged they’d argued at work.
The victim reported that Ogman struck her in the face, while Ogman said he only pushed her. Police noted that the victim’s eyes were red, with some extended swelling and watering in her right eye.
Ogman told the officer that “he has a history of ‘mental issues,’ but they are ‘under control.’”
Ogman did not say what condition he may have, but “suggested it causes him to inappropriately manage his anger sometimes.”
Another grocery store employee witnessed the Dec. 9 incident and told police he heard the argument and saw Ogman “attack” the victim. The witness said he had begun to intervene when Ogman left the premises, according to the report.