From [PINNAC NEWS] A white Connecticut state trooper turned himself in Tuesday after he was charged with manslaughter for shooting and killing a Black man more than two years ago following a high-speed pursuit with a man in a stolen car.

Connecticut State Trooper Brian North said he was in fear for the lives of fellow officers because the man driving the stolen car had a knife while sitting in the driver’s seat.

But investigators determined the shooting of Mubarak Soulemane on January 15, 2020 was not justified.

According to the 133-page investigative report by the Connecticut Office of Inspector General which you can read here:

On January 15, 2020, at approximately 5:05 p.m. on Campbell Avenue, West Haven, Connecticut, after an extended pursuit on I-95, Connecticut State Troopers Brian North, Joshua Jackson, and Ross Dalling successfully stopped a stolen 2012 Hyundai Sonata being operated by Mubarak Soulemane. The troopers’ police vehicles effectively blocked-in the Hyundai. Shortly after the stop, Trooper North fired seven shots through the driver’s side window of the Hyundai. The bullets struck and killed Soulemane who was seated in the driver’s seat holding a knife.

Stated briefly, the investigation establishes that, at the time Trooper North fired his weapon, neither he nor any other person was in imminent danger of serious injury or death from a knife attack at the hands of Soulemane. Further, any belief that persons were in such danger was not reasonable. I therefore find that North’s use of deadly force was not justified under Connecticut law.

It further states,

The second set of inquiries concern the necessity to use deadly force. Once the police effectuated the stop, they had control of the situation. It is fair to ask whether they disregarded less lethal options.

Jackson yelled for Soulemane to get out of the car twice as he approached the driver’s side of the Hyundai. There was no further communication with him before North discharged his weapon. Only thirty-six seconds elapsed between North taking a position next to the driver window and his firing his gun through that window. Would a reasonable officer have made further attempts to talk to Soulemane either himself or possibly waiting until an officer with crisis intervention training could respond? Rappa told Inspectors that he broke the window to communicate with Soulemane, and facilitate the use of less lethal means to gain control of him. A reasonable police officer would have realized that the police were in control of the situation and the opportunity existed to take a tactical pause to explore the use of methods other than deadly force.

North fired seven shots. Was that reasonable? It is certainly possible that one shot might have disabled Soulemane from attacking others yet not kill him. The law is clear that 20/20 hindsight is inappropriate in evaluating an officer’s conduct given the split second decisions officers must make in dangerous situations. The law is also clear, however, that the officer’s conduct must be reasonable to be justified. In the present case, that standard of reasonableness was not met.

North was released on a $50,000 bond and is due back in court on May 3, according to the New York Times.