POLICE: LEDYARD MAN POINTED AIRSOFT GUN AT OFFICER POLICE: MAN STABBED AFTER GOING TO MEET WOMAN HE FOUND ON DATING WEBSITE National Guard officials say avalanche hit as soldiers were checking slope safety
Ledyard — Police on Wednesday arrested a Ledyard man who they say wreaked havoc at another resident's property before aiming an airsoft pistol at an officer.
Duncan E. Kennedy, 32, allegedly violated an order of protection when he arrived at a Ledyard property just before 5 p.m. Wednesday. Police say Kennedy released the parking brake of the alleged victim's vehicle, which slid down the driveway and struck another vehicle.
Kennedy then used his hand to smash a window at the residence's shed, town police said in a news release Friday. When police arrived after the resident called to report the incident, Kennedy brandished an airsoft pistol with the orange tip removed, aiming it at an officer, according to the release.
Ledyard police Lt. Ken Creutz said by phone Friday that the victim “made perfectly clear to us that it was an airsoft pistol.”
“Obviously, it didn't make the officer deal with it any less seriously,” Creutz said. “We're super fortunate that we did get that knowledge, though.”
Creutz said the officer pointed his stun gun's red dot laser at Kennedy, convincing him to comply with police orders.
Kennedy was arrested and remains held on $50,000 cash bond. He faces charges of breach of peace, third-degree criminal mischief, threatening, brandishing a facsimile firearm and violation of a protective order.
Ledyard police charged Kennedy with disorderly conduct in
New London — A man was treated for superficial stab wounds Thursday night after he was attacked when he went to meet a woman he met on a dating website, city police said.
The man walked into the Dunkin Donuts at 175 Broad St. about 11 p.m. Thursday saying he'd been stabbed, according to a police department news release. He was stabbed three times in his leg and knee area, and was taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released.
The man told police he'd met a woman on a dating website, and they agreed to meet at a residence near Cleveland and Broad streets in New London, the release said. The man said that when he approached the door, he was attacked by a skinny black male in his early 20s, whom the alleged victim said he didn't know and who was hiding on the side of the residence, wearing a black sweatshirt, red and black winter hat and black pants.
The alleged assailant demanded the victim's wallet, and when the man refused to give it up, the suspect fled, the release said.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call New London police at (860) 447-5269, ext. 0, or submit anonymous information by texting NLPDTip plus the information to TIP411 (847411).
Jericho, Vt. — Six U.S. soldiers injured in an avalanche in a steep gully in Vermont during a training exercise were part of an advanced group conducting a safety appraisal of the slope and setting up a ropes course, Vermont National Guard officials said Friday.
Two soldiers remained hospitalized Friday in good and fair conditions while they recover from injuries suffered in the Wednesday avalanche. Guard officials would not describe the nature of the injuries or release their names.
The ropes course that was being set up for those participating in a lower-level course was canceled and the training program for about 50 people wrapped up Friday. No more full courses are scheduled this winter.
Lt. Col. Matthew Brown, the commander of the U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School, said the area has been used for winter training exercises since the early 1990s.
“This, to my knowledge, is the first time we have ever had a student involved in any incident like this,” Brown said during a Friday news conference at the mountain school headquarters in Jericho.
Brown said safety was always paramount when conducting operations in the mountains and that an investigation would be conducted into the incident.
Master Sgt. Tom Bevins, the senior non-commissioned officer who helped direct the rescue, said there have been avalanches in the area in the past, but the spot where the snow gave way was about 900 feet below where avalanches usually begin. “It’s very rare,” he said. Bevins said the snow conditions in the gully had been assessed Tuesday and earlier Wednesday.
“It looked like it was going to be a possibility that this was definitely going to be OK to travel,” Bevins said. “None of us ever saw it happening where it did happen.”
Guard officials said they were aware that other avalanches had been reported in recent days on Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s tallest peak, where Smugglers Notch is located.
Six soldiers were carried down the gully by the snow, which traveled about 300 feet. One of the soldiers managed to push his way to safety at the edge of the avalanche.
The other soldiers were immediately located and none were buried under the snow, Brown said. They were all evacuated to waiting ambulances within two hours.
The guard did not offer reporters access to any of the soldiers injured in the avalanche.
The Vermont National Guard founded what is now the Army’s Mountain Warfare School in 1983. Soldiers from other branches of the U.S. military and other agencies and militaries from around the world have been trained in Vermont in techniques of high-altitude and mountain operations and combat.
Heavy snows have fallen in the area in recent weeks.