As probe continues, Ridgefield stunned at shooting Police not releasing name: Home owned by John Valluzzo, founder of Military Museum

A shooting occurred Friday evening, May 24, 2013 at 423 Ridgebury Rd in Ridgefield, Conn. A shooting occurred Friday evening, May 24, 2013 at 423 Ridgebury Rd in Ridgefield, Conn. Photo: Carol Kaliff Photo: Carol Kaliff Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close As probe continues, Ridgefield stunned at shooting 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

RIDGEFIELD -- The call to police Friday night came in from Florida. A woman in a Ridgefield home, the caller said, was being threatened by her intoxicated partner who was waving a gun around.

Police raced off to 423 Ridgebury Road, where an officer shot and killed a gun-wielding man after he pointed a weapon at the cop, authorities said.

Police Saturday said their investigation was continuing, and they did not release the name of the victim or the officer involved in the shooting, which happened about 5:15 p.m. at the home owned by John Valluzzo, the founder of Danbury's Military Museum of Southern New England.

But the shooting shook up the community of 23,600, known for its upscale homes on well-manicured wooded properties and its tony village center of art museums and galleries, shops and restaurants.

Several shots had been fired at the residence, sources said.

"It was a very long ordeal. Very frightening," said Ellen Baltuch, a neighbor of the Ridgebury Road house. "I don't know who lived there. I'd never paid any attention to them. But we are so close, it was quite scary."

Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi, who grew up in the town, said the shooting was "unprecedented."

"This is definitely an anomaly for something like this to happen," Marconi said. "I can't remember a time when there was a fatal shooting like this."

The house at 423 Ridgebury Road was purchased by Valluzzo, of New Canaan, in 2009 and sat vacant until two years ago. Valluzzo could not be reached for comment Saturday. The Ridgefield town clerk said Saturday that Valluzzo was the owner of the home as of a month ago.

Valluzzo, 75, is a decorated Korean War veteran. He founded the Military Museum of Southern New England in Danbury in 1995. He owns homes in Connecticut and Florida.

A source familiar with the investigation said the woman in the home Friday night had placed a frantic call to a friend or relative in Florida, who in turn had called police in Ridgefield.

The source said that the man who was staying in the house was divorced and living there with his partner.

The large stone house with a red roof is set back from the road and is behind a gated driveway and black iron fence in a neighborhood on the town's west side near the New York border. It is one of several similar homes on the road.

According to a listing on the real estate website zillow.com, the home is known as "Rosecrest" and has more than 9,000 square feet, including four bedrooms and three and a half baths. The last recorded sale of the home, according to the website, was in July 2009 for $1.2 million.

The home is about a mile from Ridgebury Elementary School and about two miles from Ridgefield High School.

An autopsy on the man who was killed is set for Tuesday.

The state police Western District Major Crime Squad is investigating the shooting.

The last criminal incident in Ridgefield that resulted in a fatality was in 2003 when Simone Harris' ex-husband, David Harris, strangled and beat her to death with a baseball bat.

stuz@newstimes.com; 860-355-7322