NAACP, parents of man killed by cops seek more transparency

WINDHAM – The parents of a Hartford man fatally shot by police in Windham earlier this year are demanding more transparency from the ongoing investigation into whether officers acted appropriately during the police chase and firefight that killed their son.

State police say Kyron Marcell Sands, 39, was shot in the stomach on Feb. 20 after police said he exchanged gunfire with officers following a dramatic police chase from Norwich to Windham.

But Sands’ parents cast doubt about that version of events at a rally with about 75 protesters Tuesday afternoon outside Windham Town Hall with the local chapter of the NAACP. They conceded their son “was not perfect,” but they argued police have not yet told the full story of what happened that day and demanded investigators release all recordings of the incident immediately.

“I want the truth,” said Barbara Sands, Kyron Sands’ mother.

State police actually agree with the Sands family, said Brian Foley, executive assistant to Public Safety Commissioner James Rovella. The investigation could have been more open from the very beginning, similar to how several high-profile incidents that followed in New Haven and Wethersfield were handled, he said.

“I completely understand how they feel and believe me it was an eye opener for us, too, as that was Commissioner Rovella’s first (officer-involved) shooting as commissioner,” Foley said of Rovella, who was confirmed to the post by state lawmakers the same day as the Sands incident.

“Since then we’ve been working with legislators to improve transparency around all police shootings and, in fact, if you look at the last three police shootings, you’ll see a vast improvement in transparency,” Foley continued. “Today’s event in Windham is a reflection of the distrust and angst that can occur when there is limited transparency, so I understand it.”

Police allegedly encountered Sands on Feb. 20 during an interrupted burglary in Norwich, where he stole a car and led police on an extended chase into Windham, causing at least one crash on the way. Unlike other recent Connecticut police shootings that have drawn national attention, Sands was accused of firing at officers repeatedly. The chase ended in another bout of gunfire between Sands and officers after the car was stopped on Route 32, state police have said.

The state police investigation into the incident has been completed and recently turned over to Middlesex County State’s Attorney Michael A. Gailor for review of the officer’s use of deadly force that day, Foley said. There is no set timeline for Gailor’s office to release its final conclusions.

Sands’ parents say they have received no updates on the investigation or eventual report since the shooting in late February and they are left with a series of unanswered questions. They also dispute the state’s account of where their son was shot and how many times he was hit.

“Who shot him?” asked Keith Sands, Kyron Sands’ father. “We have no answers. And how many times? … Does anybody know who was in charge?

“All lives matter, not just black lives or white lives,” he added. “All lives.”

The incident with Sands came less than two months before two very high-profile shootings in which officers firing into cars in back-to-back incidents killed one man and injured a woman. Hamden and Yale police officers fired on a car they pulled over in New Haven, injuring 22-year-old Stephanie Washington, and just five days later a Wethersfield officer shot and killed Anthony “Chulo” Vega Cruz during a traffic stop.

The incidents sparked weeks of protests from residents and activists across the state and prompted state police to release unprecedented amounts of information and video evidence from the incidents just days later — a far cry from the months that regularly lapsed before such information was available in past cases, including the incident with Sands, Foley said.

“It was a nexus for improving the transparency,” Foley said of the Sands case.