Connecticut trooper arrested in 2020 killing of motorist who led police on high-speed chase
A Connecticut state trooper was arrested Tuesday more than two years after he fatally shot a motorist who was boxed in by police after a high-speed chase.
Trooper Brian North has been charged with first-degree manslaughter in the death of Mubarak Soulemane, 19, in West Haven on Jan.15, 2020, the state's inspector general said in a news release.
North was released on bond, and he has since been placed on paid administrative leave and his police powers were suspended while the criminal proceedings continue, state police said in a statement.
In the 2020 incident, Connecticut state police said Soulemane stole a vehicle and led troopers on a high-speed chase on Interstate 95 before troopers boxed the vehicle in. A West Haven police officer smashed the passenger window before a trooper attempted to shoot Soulemane with a Taser, which did not work, according to body camera footage from state police at the scene.
State police said North shot through the driver's door window seven times after Soulemane displayed a knife.
Soulemane’s family and the NAACP have protested the shooting, saying North should not have shot Soulemane because he was surrounded by police and could not escape. The family said police should have tried to de-escalate the situation and that the community college student had schizophrenia.
Soulemane was Black and the trooper is white.
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“The family of Mubarak Soulemane is very happy that, after 2+ years, Trooper Brian North ... may be brought to justice,” Mark Arons, a lawyer for Soulemane’s family, said in a statement calling Soulemane's death a murder. “It’s a long road ahead. But this is a good day.”
The Connecticut State Police Union said the trooper was "forced to do exactly what he was trained to do under these circumstances when he used deadly force," according to its statement.
“Trooper North was risking his own life while trying to fulfill his oath of office to protect the lives of others,” the union said in a statement. “Regardless of the inspector general’s decision, we will respect the judicial process while we vigorously defend Trooper North and his actions.”
However, an investigation from the inspector general found North's use of force was not justified under Connecticut law and that neither North nor anyone else was at risk of serious injury or death from a knife attack by Soulemane.
Family members and Soulemane's girlfriend told investigators that he had been acting erratic and combative in the days prior to the shooting and his mother, Omo Mohammed, believed he was not taking his medication, the inspector general's report said.
Advocates have called for departments to require more crisis intervention training and the creation of more civilian emergency responder programs amid several police shootings of people experiencing mental health crisis in 2020. More than a quarter of people shot and killed by police since 2015 had a mental illness and a disproportionate number of those people were people of color, according to a Washington Post database.
The inspector general said de-escalation "could and should have been attempted, possibly with the assistance of officers with crisis intervention training." Instead, shattering the window escalated the situation "dramatically."
North is expected to appear in Milford Superior Court on May 3.
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Contributing: The Associated Press
Contact Breaking News Reporter N'dea Yancey-Bragg at nyanceybra@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @NdeaYanceyBragg