Bodycam: Hartford Connecticut Police Take Down Suspect They Were Monitoring on Instagram Live

By Alex Wood

Source New Haven Register, Conn.

HARTFORD, CT — The Connecticut inspector general's office on Monday released body camera video of city police officers fatally shooting a man last week on Homestead Avenue, moments after authorities believe he discarded two guns during a chase.

The office's preliminary report on the incident identified the man killed as William Bowen, 21.

It said personnel at the Hartford Police Department Command Center had been monitoring Instagram Live on Thursday afternoon and saw a person later identified as Bowen "walking around Hartford displaying what appeared to be a firearm."

The Command Center tracked Bowen to the area of Homestead Avenue, the report said, adding that the Greater Hartford Police Department Auto Theft Task Force was alerted and went to the area.

"At approximately 2:30 p.m., using unmarked cars, Task Force officers converged on Bowen" on Homestead Avenue, the inspector general's report continued. "Bowen displayed a handgun and Officer Robert Bohm and Detective Benjamin Lee fired multiple rounds from their weapons."

Bowen fled, running along the western edge of a Homestead Avenue property and through the backyard of a Magnolia Street property, the report said.

Meanwhile, Detective Joseph Walsh had driven to Magnolia Street and went on foot to the front of the property Bowen was running through.

"At that time, Bowen emerged from a narrow alley on the north side of the residence running directly at Detective Walsh," the report continued.

Detective Walsh fired multiple rounds that struck Bowen, fatally wounding him.

"A nearby doorbell camera recorded Detective Walsh yelling, 'Drop the gun. Drop the gun,' moments before he fired," according to the report.

"Hartford Police personnel provided medical aid to Bowen on scene," the report said. "He was later pronounced deceased at Saint Francis Hospital."

"During the processing of the scene, State Police Major Crime Squad detectives seized two firearms," according to the report.

"A Glock with a large capacity magazine was located on the ground" on the western side of the Homestead Avenue property, "along Bowen's path of flight," the report said. A second gun, also a Glock, "was recovered from a backpack discarded by Bowen as he ran through the backyard" of that same property, the report added.

"The weapons seized appeared to match those appearing in the Instagram Live video," the report said. "Initial investigation has developed several relevant items of digital evidence: Screenshots from the Instagram Live video show Bowen holding two objects that appear to be firearms."

The report contains those pictures as well as dashboard camera video showing the encounter between members of the auto theft task force and Bowen on Homestead Avenue, a recording from the rear yard of the Homestead Avenue property that shows Bowen dropping the backpack, and video from Walsh's body cam that shows his encounter with Bowen.

The day after the shooting, the state's chief medical examiner's office performed an autopsy on Bowen and determined his death was caused by "gunshot wounds of the torso and upper right and lower extremities," and the manner of death was homicide, according to the report.

A toxicology report that would show whether Bowen was under the influence of alcohol or drugs was not available as of Monday, the report said.

Hartford police Lt. Aaron Boisvert has said the police officers involved in the incident were uninjured.

The investigation of the incident is continuing. The inspector general's office is working with the Hartford Police Department, the state police Central District Major Crime Squad and the Hartford state's attorney's office, the report said.

It is standard procedure for investigations of officer involved shootings to be turned over to the inspector general's office.

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