More details emerge in fatal Bridgeport police shooting

Bridgeport Police on the scene of a fatal shooting on John Street near the intersection with Park Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. Bridgeport Police on the scene of a fatal shooting on John Street near the intersection with Park Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn. on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close More details emerge in fatal Bridgeport police shooting 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT — A police chase ended violently on Fairfield Avenue late Tuesday afternoon, with the driver dead and a 21-year-old passenger wounded.

The passenger shot by police was Julian Fyffe, 21, of Bridgeport, according to a statement from the Connecticut State Police, who are investigating the incident.

The name of the driver who was killed has not been released.

“The identity of the operator is pending positive identification,” a State Police spokesman Sgt. Eric Haglund said in a statement Wednesday. “The identities of the Bridgeport Police Officers are being withheld at this time.”

Without official confirmation, rumors flooded social media Wednesday about the identity of the victim.

“Although we have no confirmation, word is circulating that the young man shot by police may be one of our students,” said Stratford Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson in a letter to parents. “Even if your child is not familiar with the individual, rumors can still be upsetting ... Our counselors are there for them.”

The chase started around 5:00 p.m. after Bridgeport Police officers tried to stop a car that had been reported stolen, according to State Police. According to the account, the chase ended on Fairfield Avenue when the car stopped, facing the wrong way down a one-way street.

“As the Bridgeport officers approached, the operator of the stolen vehicle accelerated in reverse and struck at least one (of them),” Haglund said. “As a result, a second Bridgeport Police Officer fired at least one round from their duty weapon, striking both the operator and front seat passenger.”

Two officers were treated for minor injuries at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, according to State Police. The passenger was treated at Bridgeport hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

A Bridgeport Police Department source said Tuesday that two officers were hit by the car, and that three officers were treated for injuries.

Fairfield State’s Attorney John Smriga called in State Police to take over the investigation, in accordance with protocol for fatal police-involved shootings.

The homicide was Bridgeport’s 11th of 2017.

Members of the State Police Western District Major Crime Squad began arriving at the scene just before 7 p.m. as the body of the dead man lay handcuffed near a gray Honda on Fairfield Avenue.

Bridgeport’s last police-related shoot ing death had happened on April 1, 2013, when Detective Christopher Boro na shot an armed Bryan Stukes outside a fish store. In July 2013, Borona was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.

Police said Tuesday’s incident began at about 5 p.m. with officers in pursuit of a stolen car on Park Avenue as it turned into the Walgreens parking lot. There it struck a Subaru and rolled onto Fairfield Avenue, facing the wrong way, police said.

As two officers approached the vehicle, the driver gunned the motor and struck them, according to the police source, who said one officer was hit in the chest and the other in the leg. That’s when one of the officers fired several shots, the source said, killing the driver and wounding the passenger.

Later, one bystander said he heard “three pops.” Another said she heard five.

After the shooting, more police arrived and roped off a block of Fairfield Avenue from Five Dollar Pizza and Walgreens to just before the West Avenue intersection. Long lines of rush-hour traffic filled State Street and Park Avenue, with drivers asking what was going on.

Crowds gathered on all sides of the police tape. After an officer walked by, carrying a roll of police tape, a small boy holding his mother’s hand yelled, “Who got killed?”

At about 5:20 p.m., someone was placed on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance that left the scene as the dead man lay in the street, uncovered.

“It seems like every cop in Bridgeport is here,” city resident Sybil Hopkins said from behind the police tape.

An unidentified woman questioned what had happened.

“I thought it was protect and serve, serve and protect,” she said to an officer, pointing to the body.

“If one of our lives are in danger, it’s different,” the officer said.

“Do you know what happened?” he said, and paused as the woman shook her head. “No, it’s just stories. And that’s all they are right now — stories.”

Another Bridgeport resident who was at a nearby gas station at the time of the shooting said he was in disbelief.

“We should be at peace,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on in Bridgeport.”

State Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to confidentially text “TIP711” to 274637.

Staff writers Linda Lambeck and Keila Torres Ocasio contributed reporting.

cattanasio@ctpost.com / @viacedar