(WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.) — A Purdue University student accused of stabbing his roommate to death in their dorm room has been ordered held without bond before he goes on trial.
Ji “Jimmy” Min Sha, 22, was formally charged with murder on Thursday in the killing of Varun Manish Chheda, 20, in what police called an unprovoked attack. Prosecutors allege that Sha “did knowingly or intentionally kill” Chheda, charging documents state.
Chheda was found dead in his room at McCutcheon Hall, a residence building on the school’s campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, after midnight on Oct. 5.
Sha had called 911 and told police “he had just killed his roommate with a knife,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
Responding officers found “apparent blood spatter on the wall, a pool of blood on the floor and a folding knife on the floor,” the affidavit said.
Sha “admitted he used the knife to kill Chheda while he was sitting in the chair where police found him,” according to the affidavit.
Chheda died from”multiple sharp force traumatic injuries,” according to the Tippecanoe County Coroner’s Office.
Sha, an international student from South Korea, is scheduled to appear for a hearing on Dec. 2 in Tippecanoe Circuit Court. A trial date has yet to be scheduled.
ABC News did not immediately receive a response to an email seeking comment from Sha’s attorney.
As he walked into court for his first appearance before a judge last week, Sha told reporters “I am very sorry” when asked if he had a message to the victim’s family.
Sha also said “I was blackmailed,” though did not elaborate.
Police have not outlined a motive in the case.
“I believe this was unprovoked and senseless,” Purdue University Chief of Police Lesley Weite told reporters last week.
Chheda, who grew up in Indianapolis, was a senior majoring in data science. The university held a vigil for him on Wednesday, a week after his death.
“This is as tragic an event as we can imagine happening on our campus and our hearts and thoughts go out to all of those affected by this terrible event,” Purdue University President Mitch Daniels said in a statement last week.
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
(DALLAS) — A gun accidentally discharged inside a Texas elementary school cafeteria on Thursday after a child allegedly brought the firearm to school, according to the Dallas Independent School District.
The incident occurred before classes began as breakfast was served at John W Carpenter Elementary School in Dallas, a Dallas ISD official told ABC News.
The district official said no one was injured.
“I didn’t know what to think, what to feel… Just came over immediately,” parent Brandy Fields told ABC News Dallas affiliate WFAA. “She’s safe, so [deep breath].”
Fields told the station her daughter went directly to her class, but another student told her daughter a child was showing off a gun inside the cafeteria before it fired.
“My friend told me she almost got shot today,” Fields’ daughter, 5th-grade student Abbey told WFAA. “I was so confused. She told me someone brung [sic] a gun, and they were showing it to everybody. And while they was playing with it, it went off.”
Following the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old suspect fatally shot 19 students and two teachers, Dallas ISD decided to require sixth to 12th-grade students to wear clear or mesh backpacks.
“By being able to easily see the items in the backpacks as students enter the school, campus personnel will be able to ensure that prohibited items are not included among the students’ belongings,” Dallas ISD wrote on its website. “Clear or mesh backpacks will also speed up students entering the school at the beginning of the day because opening and inspecting every backpack may not be necessary.”
The Dallas Police Department is investigating the incident.
(SAVANNAH, Ga.) — Police in Savannah, Georgia, said they believe the toddler who mysteriously vanished one week ago is dead, and they’ve named the boy’s mother as the primary suspect.
Chatham County police on Wednesday brought search dogs to the home of the 20-month-old Quinton Simon, who has been missing since Oct. 5.
Police later on Wednesday named Quinton’s mother, Leilani Simon, as the prime suspect in his disappearance and death.
No one else is considered a suspect, Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said at a news conference Thursday.
Quinton’s body has not been found.
Quinton was last seen at his Savannah home around 6 a.m. on Oct. 5 by his mother’s boyfriend, the chief said. After Quinton’s mother woke up, she reported him missing around 9:40 a.m., he said.
Police said last week that the case didn’t appear to involve a custody dispute.
Hadley added Monday that police have had contact with Quinton’s biological father and said he’s not a suspect.
Chatham County police requested FBI assistance the day Quinton was reported missing and over 40 FBI agents joined the case.
“To the Chatham County community: Our heart breaks, along with yours, in trying to comprehend what we believe happened here,” the FBI’s Will Clarke said Thursday.
(NEW YORK) — Federal agents on Tuesday discovered some $400,000 worth of liquid methamphetamine hidden in 136 condoms in four pumpkins while inspecting a vehicle at the southern border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The agency said in a news release that CBP officers at the Eagle Pass International Bridge in Texas found the 44 pounds of narcotics while searching an SUV coming in from Mexico.
“Our frontline CBP officers have seen just about everything and this Tuesday was no exception as they encountered liquid methamphetamine hidden within pumpkins,” the acting port director at Eagle Pass, Elizabeth Garduno, said in a statement.
Garduno said the border agents “utilized their training, experience, interviewing skills and uncovered a rather novel narcotics smuggling method in the process.”
CBP said the unidentified driver and passenger were placed into the custody of the Maverick County Sheriff’s Office “for further investigation.”
So far in fiscal year 2022, CBP has seized 161,000 pounds of methamphetamine. In the previous fiscal year, the agency seized 192,000 pounds of meth.
Separately, in Arizona, CBP officials wrote on Twitter that on Wednesday they found about 2,100 fentanyl pills hidden in tamales in an ice chest.
(RALEIGH, N.C.) — Police in Raleigh, North Carolina, said they are responding to an “active shooting” near a trail Thursday evening.
At least three people were transported to WakeMed Health and Hospitals’ trauma center in connection with the incident, a hospital official confirmed to ABC News. There is no word on their condition currently. The hospital official does not know if others were injured in the shooting.
The scene of the shooting is in the area of the Neuse River Greenway Trail near Osprey Cove and Bay Harbor drives, police said.
“Residents in that area are advised to remain in their homes,” the Raleigh Police Department tweeted.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(BRISTOL, Conn.) — Two police officers were shot and killed and a third was injured after a gunman allegedly ambushed them at a Bristol, Connecticut, home, according to sources.
The Bristol police officers were shot while responding to a 911 call reporting a possible domestic violence incident between two siblings Wednesday night, according to Connecticut State Police.
According to police sources, the gunman then carried out an apparent ambush on the officers with an AR-15-style rifle.
It appears the 911 call was to lure police to the scene, according to state police.
The suspect, Nicholas Brutcher, was shot and died at the scene, state police said.
The suspect’s brother was also shot and has been hospitalized in unknown condition, according to police.
“Our community has been rocked,” Bristol police chief Brian Gould said at a news conference.
Killed in the gunfire were Bristol police Sgt. Dustin DeMonte, 35, and officer Alex Hamzy, 34, Gould said.
DeMonte is survived by his wife and two children with a third child on the way, the chief said.
DeMonte “was assigned to our patrol division and was a school resource officer,” the chief said. “He was also an adviser for the Bristol police explorer cadet program. Throughout his career he has received several awards, including the Silver Star, officer of the month and co-recipient for Officer of the Year in 2019.”
Hamzy, a Bristol native, is survived by his wife, Gould said.
“Throughout his career, he received numerous letters of commendation and recognition. He was assigned to our central region Emergency Response Team and was also one of our cadet advisers,” Gould said.
The injured officer, 26-year-old Alec Iurato, underwent surgery for a severe gunshot wound, Gould said.
Iurato was released from a Hartford hospital Thursday morning and was greeted by a sea of officer support and applause.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont called the slayings a “senseless tragedy.”
“This is a devastating reminder of the dangers that police officers face every day to protect our families and neighbors from all kinds of situations. These officers are heroes,” the governor said.
Lamont ordered flags in Connecticut to be lowered to half-staff.
Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin said in a statement, “I join with New Britain State’s Attorney Christian M. Watson and the entire Division of Criminal Justice in expressing our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of Bristol Police Sgt. Dustin Demonte and Officer Alex Hamzy who were tragically killed in the line of duty on Wednesday night. We are praying and hopeful that Officer Alec Iurato is able to fully recover from injuries he suffered in the tragedy.”
“There is an ever-present danger in being a member of law enforcement, yet every day the men and women in uniform go out into the community to ensure that the citizens of Connecticut are safe,” he said.
As of Sept. 27, there have been 49 officers killed in the United States this year — which is lower than the record last year (73), but higher than the complete year totals for 2020 and 2019, according to data from the FBI.
(PARKLAND, Fla.) — Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz has been spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison by a Florida jury for carrying out the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that claimed 17 lives.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection to the Feb. 14, 2018, killing of 14 students and three staff members at his former school. Among the victims were 15-year-old Peter Wang, an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet who died while helping classmates escape, and 35-year-old Scott Beigel, a geography teacher who was shot dead while shepherding students to safety in his classroom.
This penalty phase trial was to determine if Cruz would be sentenced to death or life in prison for the massacre he committed at age 19. The jury’s decision must be unanimous for the death penalty.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 13, 5:28 PM EDT
Juror describes ‘very tense’ experience in letter to judge
One of the jurors who voted not to sentence Nikolas Cruz to death detailed some of her experience in a handwritten letter to the judge.
She wrote the letter in an effort to dispel alleged rumors that she always intended to vote against the death penalty.
“[Another juror] heard jurors who voted for the death penalty stating that I had already made up my mind on voting for life before the trial started,” she wrote. “This allegation is untrue and I maintained my oath to the court that I would be fair and unbiased.”
The letter goes on to describe the jury deliberations as “very tense,” with the juror adding that “some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life.”
Oct 13, 5:17 PM EDT
Jury foreman ‘not happy with how it worked out’
Jury foreman Benjamin Thomas told ABC Miami affiliate WPLG that he didn’t vote for the life sentence and is “not happy with how it worked out.”
“But everybody has the right to decide for themselves — it is a moral decision on their own,” Thomas said. “Some of the jurors just felt that was the appropriate sentence.”
Thomas told other local media outlets that one juror felt Nikolas Cruz was mentally ill and therefore should not be sentenced to death.
One juror was a “hard no” when it came to the death penalty, and two more jurors “ended up voting the same way,” Thomas told reporters.
Oct 13, 5:13 PM EDT
Dad says sentence sends bad message to killers
Manuel Oliver, whose 17-year-old son, Joaquin, was among the victims, told ABC News Live he had hoped for the death penalty.
“Even the death penalty was not enough for me,” he said. “The way that Joaquin died … the amount of suffering and pain, the shooter will have never received that punishment.”
“But now I have to deal with the fact that this guy … is going to have a chance to have a hobby, and enjoy three meals and, you know, read every single day. I don’t like that. I hope that justice appears in any way at some point.”
Oliver chose not to attend the trial alongside his wife. He has not decided if he’ll go to court on Nov. 1 when victims are given the opportunity to read statements.
“I might need to do that, but I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t want to spend more time thinking about this horrendous person, this monster.”
Oliver wrote on Twitter that the sentence sends a bad message to killers.
“It’s a very bad precedent for the whole nation,” he added to ABC News.
His wife, Patricia Oliver, told ABC News she feels enraged, and said her son did not get justice.
To jury members who voted against the death penalty, she said, “They have to live with that in their conscience. Life is about karma. They will remember what they did when the time comes.”
Oct 13, 3:20 PM EDT
’This result makes them suffer even more’
Chen Wang, cousin of 15-year-old victim Peter Wang, said her aunt, Peter’s mother, suffers from PTSD and “has changed forever.”
“She cannot function normally. She cannot sleep,” she said.
Victims’ families “are suffering,” she said, and “this result [from the jury] makes them suffer even more.”
“We have been quiet. We’ve been trying to follow, believing the system would help us, but it didn’t today,” she said.
Oct 13, 2:20 PM EDT
Prosecutor hopes decision brings ‘some measure of finality’
Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor said that during the trial prosecutors didn’t shy “away from telling all of the horror, all of the loss, all of the devastation, all of the pain, all of the facts, all of the truth.”
“We hope that, while there is no such thing as closure, this will bring some measure of finality and justice to this terrible chapter,” Pryor said.
“The parents and families of the schoolchildren and the staff members who were massacred lost so much and our hearts are with them,” Pryor said. “We hope they know that all of us lost 17 wonderful people that day and that our world is a poorer and sadder place without them. To the survivors, please know that you are not forgotten in this and that we respect and salute your courage in all that you have endured.”
Oct 13, 1:12 PM EDT
Fred Guttenberg: ‘Jury failed our families’
Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in the massacre, said after court, “I’m not often stunned, but I am stunned by this verdict today.”
“I could not be more disappointed,” he said.
“I don’t know how this jury came to the conclusions that they did,” he said.
“This decision today only makes it more likely that the next mass shooting will be attempted,” he said.
Guttenberg said he thinks the next mass shooter is planning his attack now, and “that person now believes that they can get away with it.”
“There are 17 victims that did not receive justice today,” Guttenberg said. “This jury failed our families today. But I will tell you: The monster is gonna go to prison, and in prison, I hope and pray, he receives the kind of mercy from prisoners that he showed to my daughter and the 16 others. … He will die in prison, and I will be waiting to read that news on that.”
Oct 13, 12:38 PM EDT
Victim’s dad: Cruz ‘did not deserve compassion’
Tony Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter, Gina, was killed, called the jury’s decision a “gut punch.”
“Pressing the barrel of his weapon to my daughter’s chest. That doesn’t outweigh [that Nikolas Cruz] had a tough upbringing?” Montalto said.
“Society has to really look and reexamine who and what is a victim. Not everyone’s a victim. My beautiful Gina. the other sons, daughters, spouses and fathers — they were the victims here. Our justice system should have been used to punish this shooter to the fullest extent of the law,” he said. “Not as an act of revenge, but to protect our nation’s schools.”
“I think that it puts all school children in jeopardy. It certainly sends the wrong message,” he continued. “This shooter did not deserve compassion.”
Oct 13, 12:22 PM EDT
Dad of slain 14-year-old: Cruz ‘got everything he wanted’
Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex was killed, tweeted that Nikolas Cruz “got everything he wanted” with the life sentence verdict.
“Prior to the shooting the Parkland murderer said he wanted to kill 20 people. He stopped after killing 17 including my sweet little boy Alex. Afterwards he didn’t want to die,” Schachter tweeted.
Meanwhile, “Our loved ones are in the cemetery.”
Oct 13, 12:17 PM EDT
Parents of 14-year-old victim: ‘I pray that animal suffers’
Ilan Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter Alyssa was killed, was disappointed by the life sentence.
He told reporters after the verdict that Nikolas Cruz is “not a human being — he’s an animal.”
“I pray that animal suffers every day of his life in jail. And that he has a short life,” he said.
When asked if he was relieved he didn’t have to see Cruz in court anymore, he responded, “It doesn’t matter. We still have to go to the cemetery to see our daughter.”
Alyssa’s mother, Lori Alhadeff, added, “What is the death penalty for if not for the killing of 17 people?”
Oct 13, 11:09 AM EDT
Judge reads verdict forms
Judge Elizabeth Scherer read the 17 documents, one for each slain victim, aloud to the court on Thursday morning as prosecutors, Nikolas Cruz and his attorneys, and the victims’ families looked on.
The jurors weighed aggravating factors and mitigating factors.
The murder of each victim needs to be found to be “cold, calculated and premeditated” to be eligible for the death penalty.
Oct 13, 9:54 AM EDT
Victims’ parents share emotional statements with jury
Victims’ parents took the stand during the trial to read emotional victim impact statements.
Fred Guttenberg, who lost 14-year-old daughter Jaime, said on the stand, “I couldn’t wait to teach her drive. … I couldn’t wait to see her graduate. I couldn’t wait to see her achieve her dream of getting into the University of Florida and rooming with her cousin and living her best life. I couldn’t wait to see her graduate and ultimately become a pediatric physical therapist, working her dream job.”
“Jaime imagined she’d be married by 25. I used to think every day about that moment and walking my daughter down the aisle. Becoming a grandparent to the two kids she already decided she was gonna have,” he said.
“What if Jaime wasn’t murdered? What would these moments end up being like?” Fred Guttenberg said. “Not a day goes by where the constant image of Jaime walking down the aisle is not still a part of my daily imagination. Along with that image of what should have been her future, our future together.”
Oct 13, 9:47 AM EDT
Defense says Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays, prosecution says he planned ‘systematic massacre’
Cruz’s defense attorneys had urged the jury to sentence him to life in prison. The defense admitted Cruz was responsible for his actions and planned the school shooting, but argued Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays that traced back to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
“Sentencing Nikolas to death will change absolutely nothing,” defense attorney Melisa McNeill said in closing arguments. “It will not bring back those 17 innocent victims that he viciously murdered.”
The prosecution, arguing for the death penalty, told jurors that Cruz researched previous mass shootings and planned a “systematic massacre.”
“Some of the remarks the defendant wrote on his YouTube were: ‘No mercy, no questions, double tap. I’m going to … murder children. … I’d love to see the families suffer,'” prosecutor Michael Satz said in closing arguments.
“He’s thinking ahead,” Satz said, by “not only looking to inflict pain” on the victims, but also “anticipating how that pain, fear and death … is gonna affect the families.”
(PARKLAND, Fla.) — Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz has been spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison by a Florida jury for carrying out the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that claimed 17 lives.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection to the Feb. 14, 2018, killing of 14 students and three staff members at his former school. Among the victims were 15-year-old Peter Wang, an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet who died while helping classmates escape, and 35-year-old Scott Beigel, a geography teacher who was shot dead while shepherding students to safety in his classroom.
This penalty phase trial was to determine if Cruz would be sentenced to death or life in prison for the massacre he committed at age 19. The jury’s decision must be unanimous for the death penalty.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 13, 11:09 AM EDT
Judge reads verdict forms
Judge Elizabeth Scherer read the 17 documents, one for each slain victim, aloud to the court on Thursday morning as prosecutors, Nikolas Cruz and his attorneys, and the victims’ families looked on.
The jurors weighed aggravating factors and mitigating factors.
The murder of each victim needs to be found to be “cold, calculated and premeditated” to be eligible for the death penalty.
Oct 13, 9:54 AM EDT
Victims’ parents share emotional statements with jury
Victims’ parents took the stand during the trial to read emotional victim impact statements.
Fred Guttenberg, who lost 14-year-old daughter Jaime, said on the stand, “I couldn’t wait to teach her drive. … I couldn’t wait to see her graduate. I couldn’t wait to see her achieve her dream of getting into the University of Florida and rooming with her cousin and living her best life. I couldn’t wait to see her graduate and ultimately become a pediatric physical therapist, working her dream job.”
“Jaime imagined she’d be married by 25. I used to think every day about that moment and walking my daughter down the aisle. Becoming a grandparent to the two kids she already decided she was gonna have,” he said.
“What if Jaime wasn’t murdered? What would these moments end up being like?” Fred Guttenberg said. “Not a day goes by where the constant image of Jaime walking down the aisle is not still a part of my daily imagination. Along with that image of what should have been her future, our future together.”
Oct 13, 9:47 AM EDT
Defense says Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays, prosecution says he planned ‘systematic massacre’
Cruz’s defense attorneys had urged the jury to sentence him to life in prison. The defense admitted Cruz was responsible for his actions and planned the school shooting, but argued Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays that traced back to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
“Sentencing Nikolas to death will change absolutely nothing,” defense attorney Melisa McNeill said in closing arguments. “It will not bring back those 17 innocent victims that he viciously murdered.”
The prosecution, arguing for the death penalty, told jurors that Cruz researched previous mass shootings and planned a “systematic massacre.”
“Some of the remarks the defendant wrote on his YouTube were: ‘No mercy, no questions, double tap. I’m going to … murder children. … I’d love to see the families suffer,'” prosecutor Michael Satz said in closing arguments.
“He’s thinking ahead,” Satz said, by “not only looking to inflict pain” on the victims, but also “anticipating how that pain, fear and death … is gonna affect the families.”
(PARKLAND, Fla.) — The jury has reached a decision in Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz’s death penalty case.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection to the Feb. 14, 2018, killing of 14 students and three staff members at his former school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Among the victims were 15-year-old Peter Wang, an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet who died while helping classmates escape, and 35-year-old Scott Beigel, a geography teacher who was shot dead while shepherding students to safety in his classroom.
This penalty phase trial was to determine if Cruz would be sentenced to death or life in prison for the massacre he committed at age 19. The jury’s decision must be unanimous for the death penalty.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 13, 9:54 AM EDT
Victims’ parents share emotional statements with jury
Victims’ parents took the stand during the trial to read emotional victim impact statements.
Fred Guttenberg, who lost 14-year-old daughter Jaime, said on the stand, “I couldn’t wait to teach her drive. … I couldn’t wait to see her graduate. I couldn’t wait to see her achieve her dream of getting into the University of Florida and rooming with her cousin and living her best life. I couldn’t wait to see her graduate and ultimately become a pediatric physical therapist, working her dream job.”
“Jaime imagined she’d be married by 25. I used to think every day about that moment and walking my daughter down the aisle. Becoming a grandparent to the two kids she already decided she was gonna have,” he said.
“What if Jaime wasn’t murdered? What would these moments end up being like?” Fred Guttenberg said. “Not a day goes by where the constant image of Jaime walking down the aisle is not still a part of my daily imagination. Along with that image of what should have been her future, our future together.”
Oct 13, 9:47 AM EDT
Defense says Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays, prosecution says he planned ‘systematic massacre’
Cruz’s defense attorneys had urged the jury to sentence him to life in prison. The defense admitted Cruz was responsible for his actions and planned the school shooting, but argued Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays that traced back to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
“Sentencing Nikolas to death will change absolutely nothing,” defense attorney Melisa McNeill said in closing arguments. “It will not bring back those 17 innocent victims that he viciously murdered.”
The prosecution, arguing for the death penalty, told jurors that Cruz researched previous mass shootings and planned a “systematic massacre.”
“Some of the remarks the defendant wrote on his YouTube were: ‘No mercy, no questions, double tap. I’m going to … murder children. … I’d love to see the families suffer,'” prosecutor Michael Satz said in closing arguments.
“He’s thinking ahead,” Satz said, by “not only looking to inflict pain” on the victims, but also “anticipating how that pain, fear and death … is gonna affect the families.”
(BRISTOL, Conn.) — Two police officers were shot and killed and one is seriously injured after a gunman allegedly ambushed the officers at a Bristol, Connecticut, home, according to sources.
The Bristol police officers were shot while responding to a domestic violence emergency call at a home late Wednesday night, according to Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont.
According to police sources, the gunman made a fake 911 call for a disturbance at his home then carried out an apparent ambush attack on the officers with an AR-15-style rifle.
The suspect was shot dead at the scene, police said.
The suspect’s brother was also shot and has been hospitalized in unknown condition, according to police.
“Our community has been rocked,” Bristol police chief Brian Gould said at a news conference.
Killed in the gunfire were Bristol police Sgt. Dustin DeMonte, 35, and officer Alex Hamzy, 34, Gould said.
DeMonte is survived by his wife and two children with a third child on the way, the chief said.
DeMonte “was assigned to our patrol division and was a school resource officer,” the chief said. “He was also an advisor for the Bristol police explorer cadet program. Throughout his career he has received several awards, including the Silver Star, officer of the month and co-recipient for Officer of the Year in 2019.”
Hamzy, a Bristol native, is survived by his wife, Gould said.
“Throughout his career, he received numerous letters of commendation and recognition. He was assigned to our central region Emergency Response Team and was also one of our cadet advisors,” Gould said.
The injured officer, 26-year-old Alec Iurato, underwent surgery for a severe gunshot wound and is recovering, Gould said.
“This is a senseless tragedy, and my prayers are with their families, loved ones, and fellow officers. I also ask the residents of Connecticut to keep in their prayers a third officer who was shot and is currently in the hospital with serious injuries,” the governor said in a statement. “This is a devastating reminder of the dangers that police officers face every day to protect our families and neighbors from all kinds of situations. These officers are heroes.”
Lamont ordered flags in Connecticut to be lowered to half-staff.
As of Sept. 27, there have been 49 officers killed in the United States this year — which is lower than the record last year (73), but higher than the complete year totals for 2020 and 2019, according to data from the FBI.
