Posted: 12/31/2004 3:10:03 PM EDT
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December 31, 2004 Man Kills Self, Officer in Conn. Standoff By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 6:30 p.m. ET NEWINGTON, Conn. (AP) -- A former state corrections officer shot and killed a police officer in a domestic violence call that turned into an ambush, then turned the gun on himself after a standoff with police. Police found the bodies Friday afternoon, about 14 hours after the standoff began Thursday night, but it was unclear when the gunman killed himself. Police last had contact with him about 3 a.m. When Newington police Officer Peter Lavery and another officer responded to a domestic violence call at the house, a woman answered the door and told the officers that a man was in her basement, police said. Neighbors said the couple were boyfriend and girlfriend. When the officers walked down the stairs, the man opened fire with an assault weapon, striking Lavery at least once, police said. The other officer and the woman escaped and called for assistance. State and area police rushed to the Hartford suburb. Leonard Boyle, state public safety commissioner, said once a state police tactical team entered the first floor Thursday night, it became clear that Lavery was probably dead. Some neighbors were evacuated overnight on school buses. Sue Erwin, who lives nearby but was not among those evacuated, said she heard shots and booms throughout the night. She also saw other neighbors coughing as they left their homes late Thursday. ``It's a devastating thing for the neighborhood,'' said Chris Clafey. For much of Friday afternoon, the tactical team was on the first floor of the home where the siege took place; the gunman and his hostage were holed up in the basement. Police used various methods to force the gunman out, including tear gas and water from a hose. Police did not identify the former corrections officer. A spokesman for the Department of Correction said he had been fired in 1999. Boyle said the incident is still under investigation. Boyle said Lavery received at least one gunshot wound. He did not say whether the officer was wearing a bulletproof vest. The state medical examiner's officer is determining the cause of death. Lavery, 47, had been on the Newington force for more than 17 years. He was married with two children. He is believed to be the first Newington officer killed in the line of duty. ``The department is very depressed and distraught at this time. He was well-loved and will be missed greatly,'' said Police Chief Richard Mulhall. |
Sounds like we actually lost two... of course, without details, we don't know when the first one (CO) departed this reality.  And once he turned a gun on another LEO, he lost his membership in the brotherhood. And I kind of doubt that the responding officer was the "other man" in a cheating situation that started the DV call. (seen it - non LOD, and non fatal, thank God ) Godspeed Officer Lavery... 10-42. 
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From the NY Times...... January 5, 2005 Thousands Mourn Officer Slain on Domestic Dispute Call By WILLIAM YARDLEY and STACEY STOWE EWINGTON, Conn., Jan. 4 - They closed the city schools to mourn here on Tuesday. They ran television cables through the big Roman Catholic church and put up speakers outside to make sure everyone could hear. And then, once the funeral procession for Police Officer Peter J. Lavery began on a bright, warm morning, the "thin blue line" became a long and wide human wave of hundreds of officers from across the region, from Poughkeepsie to Providence and beyond, slowly marching up Church Street to pay their respects to a 20-year veteran who died in the line of duty. "The thin blue line took a hit today," the Newington police chief, Richard Mulhall, fighting back tears, told more than 5,000 people outside and inside the Church of the Holy Spirit five days after Officer Lavery was shot to death while responding to a domestic dispute. Officer Lavery, 47, a motorcycle patrolman who served 17 years as a Newington officer and three before that in the town of Berlin, is believed to be the first police officer to die in the line of duty since this small town outside Hartford was incorporated in 1871. And for all the grief and ceremony that has accompanied his death, questions persist about why and how he was killed by a former Connecticut correction officer with a history of criminal behavior, including assault and illegal possession of weapons. Officer Lavery was shot Thursday night when he and another officer entered the house and Officer Lavery went into the basement, where the former correction officer, Bruce A. Carrier, was waiting, the police have said. The biggest mystery is whether Officer Lavery was aware of Mr. Carrier's criminal past when he entered the home Mr. Carrier shared with Mary L. Fletcher at 57 Mountain View Drive. The state police, who are leading the criminal investigation for the Newington Police Department, have not answered that question and say their inquiry could take weeks. "What he knew, that's to be determined," said Sgt. J. Paul Vance, a spokesman for the Connecticut state police. "There are many times in an emergency when you don't know everything you want to know." Mr. Carrier, a carpenter who was laid off last year, killed himself after the police surrounded the house. In the past 10 years, he was arrested once for driving while intoxicated and on three occasions for driving while his license was suspended. But it was a 1999 arrest in New Britain that involved Ms. Fletcher that seems to have foreshadowed the Newington incident. On Jan. 10, 1999, Mr. Carrier attacked Ms. Fletcher and her daughter, Ryan, then 17, with pepper spray, after Ms. Fletcher had hidden one of Mr. Carrier's guns, according to a New Britain police report. When the police arrived at Ms. Fletcher's home, they discovered thousands of rounds of ammunition, 12 guns, including an assault weapon and silencer, a switchblade and an explosive, their report said. Mr. Carrier was charged with illegal weapons possession, third-degree assault and reckless endangerment. In 2000, he pleaded guilty and received a two-year suspended prison sentence and three years' probation, and was required to take an anger management course, said Gerald Klein, his lawyer at the time. Detective Harold Gannon of the Newington Police Department said those weapons were seized and destroyed. Detective Gannon said he did not know how Mr. Carrier had obtained the assault rifle used to kill Officer Lavery. "I heard it was an M-16," he said. Friends knew about his arrest record but there always seemed to be an explanation, said Carol Nelson, a friend of Ms. Fletcher. She said Ms. Fletcher seemed to forgive him anything. "Every time he went to prison, she would cry all the way to the jail and say she didn't know why the police arrested him," Ms. Nelson said. The funeral and procession for Officer Lavery, whose title was master officer, drew people out to the sidewalk for much of the afternoon. Roads were closed. Patrol car lights flashed often but no sirens sounded. "This is an historical event here," said Clay McCrary, 34, who waited quietly by the road to watch with his dog. Several top state elected officials attended. Police officers marched onto a large green lawn in front of the church, lifting gloved hands to their brows to salute when Officer Lavery's coffin was carried inside. Two sisters-in-law who spoke at the funeral described a man who lived life fully. They said he called his wife of 25 years his "beautiful bride," adored his son and daughter, and loved being a police officer. He also enjoyed a drink and a smoke. One of the sisters-in-law, Amy Andreana, said she imagined Officer Lavery watching the ceremony, "a twinkle in his eye, a good Irish whiskey in one hand and a cigar in the other." Outside in the sun, Officer Lavery's patrol motorcycle, a Harley-Davidson, sat in a trailer draped in black bunting. Above the handlebars someone had taped a box of matches and a case for a single cigar. |
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