A Connecticut state trooper who killed a 19-year-old man while firing seven gunshots into a stopped car in 2020 is set to stand trial for manslaughter.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Wednesday in the trial of Trooper Brian North. North has pleaded not guilty to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm in the death of Mubarak Soulemane in West Haven.
Soulemane had stolen a ride-sharing car and led officers on a high-speed chase on Interstate 95 before North opened fire into the driver’s window at close range on the evening of Jan. 15, 2020, according to authorities.
North told investigators he fired because Soulemane had a knife and appeared to be readying to attack other officers on the other side of the car.
But Inspector General Robert Devlin, whose office investigates all uses of deadly force by police in Connecticut, concluded the shooting was not justified.
“At the time Trooper North fired his weapon, neither he nor any other person was in imminent danger of serious injury or death from a knife attack at the hands of Soulemane,” Devlin wrote in a report. “Further, any belief that persons were in such danger was not reasonable.”
Devlin, a former state judge, decided to charge North despite noting in his report that two experts consulted by a previous prosecutor who investigated the shooting concluded North was justified.
Soulemane’s family, the NAACP and other groups said North, who is white, should not have shot Soulemane, who was Black, because police had him surrounded and he could not get away. Despite having a knife, Soulemane was inside the car by himself and police should have attempted to de-escalate the situation, they said.
“After four years, the family is eager for the criminal trial to finally get underway,” Mark Arons, a lawyer for Soulemane’s family, said in a statement.
Soulemane’s mother, Omo Mohammed, has said she wants to see North convicted and sent to prison. She is suing North and other officers.
The inspector general’s…
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