By Justin Muszynski
Hartford Courant
BRISTOL, Conn. — An investigation by the Connecticut Office of Inspector General found “insufficient” evidence to conclude that a Bristol Police Department officer was not justified when he shot a man who had carjacked two people in other towns and tried to steal multiple other vehicles before taking a police cruiser.
The report, released Wednesday by Inspector General Robert Devlin Jr., found that Officer Seth Petzing’s decision to fire four rounds at Jimmie Shoemaker-Gonzalez as he drove past him in a police cruiser on Jan. 12, 2023, was a “close question.”
“I am convinced, however, that there is insufficient evidence to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that it was not justified,” Devlin wrote, noting that Petzing told investigators he believed Shoemaker-Gonzalez was going to hit him with the cruiser before he fired.
According to Devlin’s 42-page report, Shoemaker-Gonzalez allegedly stole a 2004 Dodge Durango just before 9:20 a.m. in Hartford after the owner parked in front of a convenience store on Park Street. He allegedly grabbed the man in the driver seat and, during a subsequent struggle, swung a knife multiple times, failing to pierce the man’s clothing on one attempt and cutting his forehead on the other, the report said. The laceration required four stitches.
Shoemaker-Gonzalez reportedly made off with the vehicle after the man ran into the store and had someone call 911, Devlin wrote.
Later in the morning while driving on Scott Swamp Road in Farmington, Shoemaker-Gonzalez struck a state Department of Transportation snow plow which sent the Durango out of control and into a fence and a rock wall, according to the report. He abandoned the vehicle at the Westwood II condo complex, where he later allegedly tried to steal a vehicle that had been started using a remote starter, Devlin wrote. According to the report, Shoemaker-Gonzalez, while still armed with a knife, then banged on the window of a Nissan Rogue with two people inside it in the condo complex parking lot and pulled on the door handle before the driver took off.
Immediately after allegedly trying to steal the Rogue, Shoemaker-Gonzalez approached a man in the lot and allegedly tried to stab his neck, though he was able to block the knife, Devlin wrote. During a subsequent struggle, the man’s arm was cut. He told authorities the thief demanded his keys, so he threw them and ran back into his residence.
According to Devlin’s report, Shoemaker-Gonzalez allegedly stole the man’s Toyota RAV4 and headed toward Bristol. Bristol police were told to be on the lookout for the vehicle around 12:20 p.m. and that it was taken during a carjacking by a suspect who was believed to be armed with a knife.
The vehicle was later spotted on Davis Drive, where Sgt. Joshua Pratt parked behind it and approached the RAV4 on foot with his gun drawn. According to Devlin’s report, Shoemaker-Gonzalez allegedly reversed into the cruiser and drove forward, striking a guardrail before speeding away and hitting a dumpster. The vehicle ended up in a ravine and was abandoned.
Multiple police began searching the area for Shoemaker-Gonzalez before he got into one of their cruisers, Devlin wrote. By this time, Petzing had arrived at the scene and he positioned himself where he thought he would be out of the cruiser’s path, had the driver chosen to flee, his statement to investigators said.
Petzing drew his gun and pointed it at the driver as other officers shouted for him to get out of the cruiser. According to Petzing’s statement, he believed the suspect “posed a greater risk to the community” while in possession of a police cruiser, which he noted was equipped with an AR-15, a shotgun and a ballistic shield.
As the cruiser began moving, Petzing said he made eye contact with the driver as he drove toward him, according to the report and police body camera footage.
“He was staring right at me making me believe that he was going to run me over,” Petzing said in his statement. “I believed the suspect was intentionally accelerating at me and I believed my life was in danger. The grill of the cruiser was coming at me, and the tires were turned in my direction. Based on the stare, the look on the suspect’s face and the direction and speed of the vehicle, I believed I was going to be struck and killed. I then fired four rounds at the vehicle.”
According to Devlin’s report, the cruiser narrowly missed a school bus on Quaker Lane and struck a building on Davis Drive. The cruiser was later pursued by police before crashing into Palma’s Diner at 100 Stafford Ave. in Bristol. No injuries in the diner were reported.
After being extracted from the cruiser, Shoemaker-Gonzalez was taken to Hartford Hospital and treated for four gunshot wounds, including two in his thigh and two in his lower left leg, the report said.
An analysis of a blood sample taken reportedly showed his blood alcohol content was 0.102 and that he had a cocaine metabolite, Oxycodone and PCP in his system, according to the report.
When Shoemaker-Gonzalez spoke to authorities, he alleged that he had a recent family issue that caused him to relapse and start smoking “dust” — a slang term for PCP — again, the report said. He claimed he had recently been released from jail and was living in East Hartford.
According to Devlin’s report, Shoemaker-Gonzalez allegedly said he smoked a “couple of bags” of dust and did not remember carjacking anyone or why he went to Bristol. He claimed that he remembered getting into a police cruiser and driving, though he said he “had no idea” why an officer shot him and “doubted that the officer had a good explanation,” the report said.
“He asserted that the officer had no reason to shoot him and that he intended to contact a lawyer to bring a civil lawsuit,” Devlin wrote.
Judicial branch records reviewed Wednesday did not show any pending lawsuits brought by Shoemaker-Gonzalez against the Bristol Police Department.
Devlin’s analysis of the shooting — which included several interviews and reviewing the body and dashboard camera footage from the officers involved — noted that when determining whether an officer’s use of deadly force was justified “the law places the burden on the prosecutor to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer’s use of deadly force was not justified.
“The law further provides that if there is something in the evidence or lack of evidence that leaves in one’s mind a reasonable doubt as to officer’s justification, the officer must be given the benefit of that doubt,” Devlin wrote, adding that this particular officer-involved shooting was a “close case.”
“The investigation has revealed factors that support a finding that Officer Petzing’s use of deadly force was not justified and factors that support a finding that such use of force was justified.”
When applying the standards laid out by the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council, Devlin said “firing at the fleeing cruiser arguably did not fit” within the three exceptions that involve an officer firing to protect others or himself. Devlin noted, however, that Petzing’s “actions cannot fairly be evaluated without considering the context within which those actions occurred,” which included the fact Shoemaker-Gonzalez was wanted for “serious offenses” and that his jumping into a police cruiser created a “dynamic situation” that raised “the anxiety level of all concerned.”
Noting that Petzing made a split-second decision, Devlin said the officer “asserts that he was in the path of the fleeing stolen cruiser and believed that Shoemaker-Gonzalez was going to run him over.”
“I accept that this was his honest belief,” Devlin wrote, adding that an analysis of the camera footage showed the vehicle was only momentarily facing Petzing and later drove away from him.
“In that moment when the stolen cruiser appeared to line up toward Officer Petzing, things were certainly tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving,” Devlin wrote. “Under these circumstances, his split-second decision to fire to prevent being run over could be considered reasonable.”
“In sum, I do not believe that the evidence developed by the investigation establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Petzing was not justified when he used deadly force to repel what he believed to be a grave and imminent threat of being runover by the stolen police cruiser,” Devlin concluded.
According to court records, Shoemaker-Gonzalez was charged by police departments in Bristol, Farmington and Hartford . He has several cases pending in Hartford Superior Court on assault, robbery, larceny and other charges and remains held on bonds totaling $1.8 million.
“The Bristol Police Department would like to thank the Office of Inspector General for their efforts in conducting a thorough and objective investigation into the January 12, 2023 officer-involved shooting and agree with their assessment that Officer Petzing was justified when he discharged his firearm to protect himself from the imminent threat of serious physical injury and or death posed by a violent fleeing felon in a stolen police car that day,” the department said in a statement on Wednesday.
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