Police fatally shoot 'drunk' 75-year-old Korean War vet on Memorial Day weekend in Posh Connecticut mansion

John Valluzzo pointed a gun at officers before he was fatally shot

Valluzzo's death is the first criminal incident to result in a fatality in Ridgefield, Connecticut in nearly 10 years

Valluzzo was a decorated Korean War veteran and founded the Military Museum of Southern New England in 1995

The founder and president of a Connecticut military museum was shot and killed at his home by police after he pointed a handgun at officers, Connecticut state police said Sunday.



State police identified the man killed Friday in Ridgefield as 75-year-old John Valluzzo.



Valluzzo was armed when Ridgefield police arrived at his posh, 9,000 square foot home following a call about a possible domestic incident on Friday evening, state police said. He was shot after authorities said he refused to comply with orders to put the gun down and instead raised it on officers.

Korean War vet John Valluzzo raised his gun on a police officer prior to getting fatally shot Buy AP Photo Reprints Document Justice Arthur Cooperman's verdict statement in the Sean Bell case Summons filed in civil wrongful-death case of Sean Bell Indictment of three officers in shooting death of unarmed groom Multimedia Inside the Sean Bell Shooting Arrest-related deaths by state Multimedia Map of police gun deaths RIDGEFIELD, Conn. (AP) -- The founder and president of a Connecticut military museum was shot and killed at his home by police after he pointed a handgun at officers, state police said Sunday. State police identified the man killed Friday in Ridgefield as 75-year-old John Valluzzo. Valluzzo was armed when Ridgefield police arrived at his home following a call about a possible domestic incident on Friday evening, state police said. He was shot after authorities said he refused to comply with orders to

Valluzzo was pronounced dead at a hospital. Police have not identified the officer involved in the shooting.

Connecticut's News Times reports that Valluzzo's girlfriend called a friend in Florida about 5:15 p.m. Friday and said Valluzzo was intoxicated and waving a gun around. The friend called police, who raced to the home to find Valluzzo still armed.

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

Crime scene: this is the 9,000 square foot home where Valluzzo was shot Buy AP Photo Reprints Document Justice Arthur Cooperman's verdict statement in the Sean Bell case Summons filed in civil wrongful-death case of Sean Bell Indictment of three officers in shooting death of unarmed groom Multimedia Inside the Sean Bell Shooting Arrest-related deaths by state Multimedia Map of police gun deaths RIDGEFIELD, Conn. (AP) -- The founder and president of a Connecticut military museum was shot and killed at his home by police after he pointed a handgun at officers, state police said Sunday. State police identified the man killed Friday in Ridgefield as 75-year-old John Valluzzo. Valluzzo was armed when Ridgefield police arrived at his home following a call about a possible domestic incident on Friday evening, state police said. He was shot after authorities said he refused to comply with orders to put the gun down and i

Witnesses say they heard several shots fired inside the residence.



Valluzzo was a decorated Korean War veteran and founded the Military Museum of Southern New England in 1995.



The museum called Valluzzo's death at the start of the Memorial Day weekend a "senseless tragedy."



"Sorrow fills our hearts at this sad moment," the museum said on its website. "The news of the untimely death of John Valluzzo comes as a great shock to all who knew him. His departure was sudden, unexpected and particularly distressing."



Police rushed to Valluzzo's home after his girlfriend called a friend in Florida and said he was drunk and waving a gun around Buy AP Photo Reprints Document Justice Arthur Cooperman's verdict statement in the Sean Bell case Summons filed in civil wrongful-death case of Sean Bell Indictment of three officers in shooting death of unarmed groom Multimedia Inside the Sean Bell Shooting Arrest-related deaths by state Multimedia Map of police gun deaths RIDGEFIELD, Conn. (AP) -- The founder and president of a Connecticut military museum was shot and killed at his home by police after he pointed a handgun at officers, state police said Sunday. State police identified the man killed Friday in Ridgefield as 75-year-old John Valluzzo. Valluzzo was armed when Ridgefield police arrived at his home following a call about a possible domestic incident on Friday evening, state police said. He was shot after authorities said he

State police said Sunday they're investigating the circumstances at the request of the Danbury state's attorney and Ridgefield police.