Police: Teen fatally shot after carjacking

NORWALK — A state police trooper has been placed on administrative assignment after fatally wounding a New Haven teen who allegedly brandished a knife while carjacking a ride-share driver in Norwalk.

Soulemane Murbarak, 19, was identified by state police as the person killed in Wednesday’s officer-involved shooting.

Trooper Brian North fired his weapon after he saw Murbarak with a knife, state police said. The other troopers involved in the incident — who state police said did not fire their weapons — were identified as Trooper Joshua Jackson and Trooper First Class Ross Dalling.

North and Jackson have each been with state police for four and a half years. Dalling has been with state police for seven and a half years.

“In accordance with department policy, Trooper North has been placed on administrative assignment,” state police said.

The agency released information about the incident late Thursday afternoon, detailing what led to the deadly shooting.

It started around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday when Norwalk police pursued the stolen car from the parking lot of an AT&T store on Main Avenue and then onto the Route 7 connector before ending the chase — which reached speeds of 90 mph — when they approached Interstate 95.

“We determined that it wasn’t safe to pursue him,” Norwalk Police Lt. Jared Zwickler said. “The risks outweighed the benefits.”

Norwalk supervisors called off the pursuit, but a “be on the lookout” broadcast was issued to state police and other nearby departments with a description of the vehicle.

The bulletin — issued at 4:36 p.m. — also indicated that the driver was armed with a knife, state police said.

In a statement released Thursday, Melvin Medina, public policy and advocacy director of the ACLU of Connecticut, condemned state police for the pursuit, calling high-speed chases a “dangerous and deadly pandemic.”

“It is deeply concerning that despite the legislature taking action to try to rein in these deadly police decisions, 2020 has begun with (police) chasing and killing another person,” Medina said. “When police choose to chase someone in a car, they are escalating a situation and endangering the lives of police, pedestrians, and all motorists on that road.”

But state police pointed to the “vital information” that Norwalk provided about Murbarak being armed as the reason they pursued the vehicle.

The agency said its pursuit policy, adopted in September 2019, prevents troopers from normally chasing stolen vehicles unless the person has committed, is trying to commit or will imminently commit a crime of violence — actual or threatened.

The policy also allows troopers to pursue a vehicle if there is a need to take the person into custody in a timely manner because of the potential for harm to the public if they aren’t apprehended, state police said.