Police: Bridgeport man kills himself, accidentally

BRIDGEPORT — The uncle of a man who died last week following an armed robbery and a police chase accidentally killed himself while being fired upon by assailants Thursday night.

Police Chief Armando Perez said 31-year-old Tavon Cooper apparently accidentally shot himself in the head as he was attempting to drive away from gunmen firing on him in the P.T. Barnum Apartments Thursday night. At least 10 shots were believed to have been fired.

“It looks like he was maybe trying to get away from whoever was shooting at him, he had a gun and maybe went over a speed bump or accelerated and shot himself through his nose through the back of his head,” Perez said of Tavon.

Just last week, Corbin Cooper, Tavon’s nephew, died after being thrown from an SUV when it crashed following a police pursuit.

At the time, police were investigating the armed robbery of a man on McKinley Avenue who said four youths took a gold chain, $18 and some candy from him at gunpoint. The victim told police the robbers fled in a Toyota 4Runner.

Police spotted the suspected vehicle and began pursuing it when it sped away — and then crashed near the Route 8 and Route 25 intersection in Trumbull. Corbin Cooper was thrown from the SUV and pronounced dead at Bridgeport Hospital.

Perez said Corbin Cooper had recovered after being critically wounded in a shooting in late April.

State police said 15-year-old Louis Valentine of Bridgeport was the driver of the Toyota and suffered minor injuries. Valentine’s brother, 19-year-old Eric Diaz, was shot and killed last September, Perez said.

It was unknown if police were investigating any connections between the assailants firing on Tavon Cooper Thursday night and the prior incidents involving his nephew, Corbin or Corbin’s friend, Louis Valentine.