CT inspector general releases bodycam videos of officer-involved shooting at hotel

The Office of the Inspector General on Wednesday released body camera footage of an officer-involved shooting that took place at a hotel in New London on Sunday.

New London Police Department officers responded to a report of shots fired at the Americas Best Value Inn at 380 Bayonet St. in New London just before 2 p.m. Officers were directed to a room at the hotel where a witness alleged that a man, later identified as 42-year-old Christopher Nolan, came into the room and fired a round out of the window at an unidentified person, Inspector General Robert J. Devlin, Jr. said in a report released Wednesday.

Police said they learned that Nolan had fled to the adjacent Clarion Inn at 269 North Frontage Road. At the Clarion Inn, New London Officer Joseph Not, Officer Annie Agnew and Officer Seth Bolduc conducted a search and located Nolan in a hotel room. Not’s bodycam video shows a person in that hotel room allowing the officers inside as a child is heard screaming and crying in the background.

Once inside, officers witness Nolan standing up against the window in what police believe was an effort to escape. Officers directed Nolan to put his hands up multiple times, the bodycam video shows, as other people in the room, including children, scramble to get out of the way.

When officers observed a gun in Nolan’s hand as he turned toward them, they fired their weapons, the bodycam video shows.

“Get the kids,” the officers yelled.

A second bodycam video released by the Office of the Inspector General Wednesday shows police recovering a revolver from the windowsill where Nolan had been standing.

Nolan sustained multiple gunshot wounds, officials said. New London officers immediately rendered medical aid, and Nolan was taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London for treatment. He was later transferred to Yale New Haven Hospital, according to officials. His status was unknown as of Wednesday.

The Office of the Inspector General, along with the Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Squad, the New London Police Department, and the New London State’s
Attorney’s Office, is continuing to investigate the incident.