A Connecticut police officer who opened fire on an unarmed couple's car, seriously wounding a woman, was charged Monday with assault and reckless endangerment.
State's Attorney Patrick Griffin said in his report that Hamden officer Devin Eaton showed "an extreme indifference to human life" and that the use of force April 16 in New Haven was not justified.
Eaton, 29, who has been on the force for three years, posted $100,000 bail and was ordered to appear in court Oct. 28 to face one count of first-degree assault and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment. Messages seeking comment were left for him and his attorney Monday.
The shooting sparked several protests in New Haven and neighboring Hamden and prompted calls from area clergy and activists for two officers involved in to be fired.
According to police, Eaton and Yale University officer Terrance Pollock both opened fire on the car, which matched the description of one involved in a reported attempted armed robbery, after the driver, Paul Witherspoon III, got out abruptly. Eaton's body camera video shows Witherspoon, who was not injured, starting to exit the car and appearing to raise his hands when Eaton begins shooting. Witherspoon then quickly gets back into the vehicle.
Eaton, who told authorities he thought Witherspoon had a gun, fired a few shots at the driver's side of the car, then ran to the other side and fired again, blowing out the passenger-side windows.
Witherspoon's girlfriend, Stephanie Washington, 22, was wounded but survived. More details of her injuries were released Monday, showing she was struck by one bullet that fractured her pelvis and spine.
"It was like being in a nightmare. I thought I was going to die," Washington said in a sworn statement to police that was released Monday.
Investigators later determined Eaton fired 13 times and Pollock three times. Pollock's use of deadly force was found to be justified because the officer believed Eaton and Witherspoon were exchanging gunfire.
Shots from Eaton's gun injured both Washington and Pollock, who suffered a graze wound.
Eaton said in a sworn statement released Monday that he believed Witherspoon had a gun. Investigators later determined he did not.
"I could see that he was not holding anything in his left hand but as he began to turn towards me I saw the operator (Witherspoon) begin to raise his right arm up and it appeared that he was holding an object in his right hand, which I believed to be a gun," Eaton said.
"Based on his close proximity to me and his sudden and aggressive actions when exiting the vehicle, I was afraid that the operator was about to shoot me and cause me serious bodily injury or death," Eaton said.
Eaton's lawyer, Elliot Spector, has said Eaton did not know the other officer had arrived at the scene and believed Witherspoon was shooting at him, when in reality it was the other officer firing his gun.
Griffin said in his investigation report that some of Eaton's statements conflicted with the evidence, and that the Yale officer didn't start to fire his weapon until Eaton already had fired eight times.
"Under circumstances evincing an extreme indifference to human life, he recklessly engaged in conduct which created a risk of death, and thereby caused serious physical injury to Washington," Griffin said in his report. "Additionally, the reckless manner in which the shots were discharged placed those in the immediate vicinity, including Paul Witherspoon and Officer Pollock, at risk for serious physical injury."
Witherspoon and Washington, as well as both officers, are black.
Scot X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut State Conference of the NAACP, said Monday that he continued to believe both officers should have been arrested.
"Being arrested is one thing and getting convicted is another," Esdaile added. "We've seen officers arrested but walk away without being convicted. It's no time to celebrate. We still have a long way to go."
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the last name of the Yale University officer to Pollock, not Pollack.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas militants, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.
The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange, said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the U.S. administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah despite warnings from President Joe Biden and other western officials that doing so would result in more civilian deaths and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.
The Biden administration has said there could be consequences for Israel should it move forward with the operation without a credible plan to safeguard civilians.
“Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday at the Sedona Forum, an event in Arizona hosted by the McCain Institute.
Some 1.5 million Palestinians have sheltered in the southern Gaza city as the territory has been ravaged by the war that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
The United Nations humanitarian aid agency on Friday said that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at imminent risk of death” if Israel moves forward with the Rafah assault. The border city is a critical entry point for humanitarian aid and is filled with displaced Palestinians, many in densely packed tent camps.
The officials added that the evacuation plan that the Israelis briefed was not finalized and both sides agreed to keep discussing the matter.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday that no “comprehensive” plan for a potential Rafah operation has been revealed by the Israelis to the White House. The operation, however, has been discussed during recent calls between Biden and Netanyahu as well as during recent virtual talks with top Israeli and U.S. national security officials.
“We want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives — those innocent lives,” Jean-Pierre said.
The revelation of Israel's continued push to carry out a Rafah operation came as CIA director William Burns arrived Friday in Egypt, where negotiators are trying to seal a cease-fire accord between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is considering the latest proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release put forward by U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who are looking to avert the Rafah operation.
They have publicly pressed Hamas to accept the terms of the deal that would lead to an extended cease-fire and an exchange of Israeli hostages taken captive on Oct. 7 and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Hamas has said it will send a delegation to Cairo in the coming days for further discussions on the offer, though it has not specified when.
Israel, and its allies, have sought to increase pressure on Hamas on the hostage negotiation. Signaling that Israel continues to move forward with its planning for a Rafah operation could be a tactic to nudge the militants to finalize the deal.
Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israeli forces would enter Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’ last stronghold, regardless of whether a truce-for-hostages deal is struck. His comments appeared to be meant to appease his nationalist governing partners, and it was not clear whether they would have any bearing on any emerging deal with Hamas.
Blinken visited the region, including Israel, this week and called the latest proposal “extraordinarily generous” and said “the time to act is now.”
In Arizona on Friday, Blinken repeated remarks he made earlier this week that "the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas.”
The Chahine family prepares to bury two adults and five boys and girls under the age of 16 after an overnight Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 3, 2024. An Israeli strike on the city of Rafah on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip killed several people, including children, hospital officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)
FILE - Palestinians line up for free food during the ongoing Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Jan. 9, 2024. A top U.N. official said Friday, May 3, 2024, that hard-hit northern Gaza was now in “full-blown famine" after more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas and severe Israeli restrictions on food deliveries to the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali, File)
Palestinians rescue a woman survived after the Israeli bombardment on a residential building of Abu Alenan family in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)
President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House as he talks with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Washington, after returning from a trip to North Carolina. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
