The Connecticut Office of Inspector General has released body camera footage of a fatal police shooting that occurred in Meriden last July. The footage shows a suspect, identified as 38-year-old Robert Lee Jenkins III, being shot by a responding officer while carrying out a brutal attack on a motionless man with a baseball bat.
According to the inspector general's preliminary report, Meriden Officer Anthony Offiaeli arrived at a home on Sagamore Road shortly after 10 a.m. and found Jenkins "bludgeoning" a man lying motionless on the front lawn with a baseball bat.
Offiaeli repeatedly ordered Jenkins to drop the bat, shouting "Put the f---ing bat down!" while pointing his firearm at Jenkins. However, Jenkins continued to strike the victim with the bat, swinging it downward four times before the officer fired multiple shots.
The officer fired additional rounds before Jenkins began to slow down, though he continued swinging the bat until he eventually collapsed. The victim who was attacked with the baseball bat was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy determined that Jenkins died from multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The victim's cause of death was determined to be blunt force head injuries, and the manner of death was also ruled a homicide.
The Connecticut Office of Inspector General, Connecticut State Police Central District Major Crime Squad, the Meriden Police Department, and the New Haven Judicial District State's Attorney's Office are continuing to investigate the incident.
