Officer fired after fatally shooting man in mental health crisis — as others tried to de-escalate

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A white Connecticut police officer who fatally shot a Black man 30 seconds after arriving at the scene, where three fellow officers had spent several minutes trying to de-escalate the situation, was fired Friday.

Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said in a statement that he terminated Officer Joseph Magnano effective immediately in connection with the Feb. 27 shooting of Steven Jones, who was on a city street holding a knife. The killing came eight days after a different Hartford officer fatally shot another man in a mental health crisis.

“In the body-worn camera footage of the incident, as well as publicly shared videos, I saw three officers work together as a team to de-escalate a mental health crisis in a way that exemplifies the best of our police department,” Arulampalam said. “The actions of Officer Magnano do not measure up to those standards.”

A Hartford police spokesman referred questions to Chief James Rovella, who did not immediately return a phone message or email Friday. The police union did not immediately respond to an email message. The union has been defending Magnano’s actions, saying in social media posts that his use of force was lawful.

Contact information for Magnano, who was new to the force and still on probation, could not immediately be found.

The state inspector general’s office is investigating the shooting and will determine whether to file criminal charges against Magnano. Earlier this month, the office released the body camera footage from the four officers who responded to the scene.

Jones’ sister, Audrey Jones, had called 911 seeking help for her brother because he was having a mental health crisis, reporting that he had a knife and had cut himself.

The body camera footage shows Steven Jones on a city street as three officers keep telling him for several minutes to drop a knife he is holding. The officers also tell him they’re there to help him.

“Steve, you’re OK. We’re going to make sure you’re OK,” Officer James Prignano tells him. “Just drop the knife. We’re going to go talk to somebody, OK?”

Jones can’t be heard saying anything in the videos.

About 12 minutes after the 911 call, Magnano arrives and draws his pistol while also ordering Jones to drop the knife, telling him “You’re going to get shot,” the video shows. A woman is heard screaming, “Don’t shoot him!”

The videos show Prignano motioning at Magnano, appearing to tell him to back away. As Jones slowly walked toward Magnano, the officer gives a final warning before shooting at Jones nine times, about 30 seconds after he got out of his cruiser, video shows.

Jones died at a hospital four days later, authorities said.

Magnano’s firing came a day after Jones’ funeral, which was attended by the Rev. Al Sharpton and Ben Crump, a lawyer for Jones’ family who has represented relatives of Black people killed in high-profile police shootings around the country.

“Steven had a mental health crisis,” Crump said at the funeral. “He needed a helping hand from the Hartford Police Department, but instead he got nine bullet holes in his body. That is a shame before God. And the status of your mental health and the color of your skin should not equal the death sentence.”

In a statement, Sharpton on Friday called the firing “a necessary first step,” but said “Jones’ family and the people of Hartford deserve full justice.” He and Crump called for reforms aimed at improving Hartford police’s response to calls involving mental health.

On Feb. 19, Everard Walker was fatally shot by Hartford police in a different neighborhood. A relative had called the 211 health and human services help line. Two mental health professionals responding to Walker’s apartment asked police to accompany them to the call, Inspector General Eliot Prescott said in a preliminary report.

At the apartment, Walker, two of his children and officers got into a physical confrontation and Walker pulled a knife, Prescott said. Walker did not obey police orders to drop the knife, Prescott said.

Police body camera video shows Walker raise the knife as Officer Geovanny Rivera appears to fall backward. Officer Alexander Clifford then fired several shots at Walker, who later died at a hospital. Prescott also investigating that shooting.