A West Haven police officer was justified in shooting a domestic violence suspect in an apartment in December 2023, according to a report released Thursday by the Office of the Inspector General.
The incident happened in the early morning hours of Dec. 1, 2023 on Terrace Avenue.
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WATCH HEREPolice responded to the apartment after being contacted the the mother of a woman who said her daughter was being held against her will, the report stated.
The victim told officers that her boyfriend, 33-year-old Jovan Washington, had choked her during an argument and would not let her leave the apartment with their three children.
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SIGN UP Three officers went into a bedroom where Washington was sleeping and told him he was being taken into custody.
According to the report and shown in body-worn camera video, one of the officers told Washington to put on sweatpants before they took him into custody. Washington then lunged back towards his bed and reached under the mattress. He pulled out a gun from under the mattress as the officers struggled with him. Washington fired one shot, hitting an officer in the leg, according to the report.
Another officer shot Washington three times as they continued to struggle with him and yelled for him to drop the gun. The officer fired a fourth shot at which point Washington released the weapon.
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Washington was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Inspector General Robert Devlin determined the officer's use of deadly force to defend himself and the other officers was "objectively reasonable and justified."
