After a nearly six-month investigation, New Britain State’s Attorney Brian Preleski has concluded that a Waterbury police officer was justified when he shot and killed a local man, according to a report released Monday. But Preleski also made several recommendations for significant changes that could have altered the course of either the shooting itself or the following investigation.
“When someone is killed by a police officer, we have to consider what could have gone differently,” Preleski said at a Monday press conference.
Preleski and his team used police reports, in-person interviews, training records and autopsy records to determine whether Officer Ronald Tompkins III was justified when he shot and killed 57-year-old Edward Gendron Jr.