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THE HARTFORD COURANT
January 28, 2003 Tuesday, 2 WEST CENTRAL
SECTION: CONNECTICUT; Pg. B3
LENGTH: 710 words
HEADLINE: OFFICER CLEARED IN FATAL SHOOTING;
A PROSECUTOR CONCLUDES AN OFFICER WAS JUSTIFIED IN SHOOTING AN INTOXICATED MAN WHO LUNGED AT HIM WITH TWO KNIVES.
BYLINE: THOMAS D. WILLIAMS; Courant Staff Writer
DATELINE: NEW BRITAIN --
BODY:
State's Attorney Scott J. Murphy has cleared a city police officer in the July fatal shooting of 34-year-old Anthony E. Newfield.
Murphy found that Newfield was preparing to stab Officer Michael Conway with two knifes when Conway was attempting to arrest him on the night of July 23, following an argument with family. Newfield refused to put down the knives when Conway repeatedly ordered him to do so, Murphy's inquiry concluded. Conway's conduct still must be examined by the city police's Firearms Review Board to decide whether Conway's conduct fell within department guidelines, Det. Harold Gannon, a police spokesman, said Monday. He said the board had been awaiting Murphy's report, and it is not yet known when the board will meet and decide the issue.
Newfield's brother, Robert Newfield, said Monday that he doesn't blame Conway for his brother's death, but he wished that he had waited for backup police officers to arrive before firing the fatal shot.
"Having had six months to dwell on this," he said, "I believe he should have waited for backup."
"Things would have been different that way, but it would also have been different if my brother hadn't been drinking," he said. "It was the hardest thing in my life to deal with. I know a lot of police officers and I understand the stress and strain of a situation like that."
Conway was called to 52 Farmington Ave. at about 8:10 p.m., after Anthony Newfield, a construction worker, became enraged during a family argument, witnesses reported. Before the call, Robert Newfield said Anthony pushed his father, Richard R. Grundwalski, and lunged at him with two knives -- one of which he called "Rambo."
"He was very intoxicated and out of control," Robert Newfield told The Courant soon after the incident. "When he's drunk, that's it. ... It's a tough situation. We don't hold the police responsible. We feel they did what they had to do."
"The officer had no choice, and we feel bad for him," he continued then. "He has to live with something like this for the rest of his life, just like us."
After Anthony Newfield lunged at his father, said Robert, his mother, Judith, called police. She warned them that pepper spray had been ineffective on her son in the past.
Conway, on the force since 1994, asked Anthony Newfield six times to drop his weapons, police said.
Newfield ignored the orders, and lunged at Conway, said police. The officer fired his AR-15 assault rifle, fatally wounding Newfield, said Sgt. J. Paul Vance, a state police spokesman. State police are called to investigate the fatal shooting of a suspect by a police officer. Conway has been placed on administrative duties, a routine procedure when an officer is involved in a shooting.
Murphy concurred with Robert Newfield's initial assessment at the time of the incident that his brother was responsible for his own death.
"Mr. Newfield, on the night of July 23, 2002, was clearly intoxicated, acting in an aggressive manner and voicing threats to cause harm. He continued his aggressive behavior in the face of a show of force from a readily identifiable police officer and demands from him that he drop his weapons," Murphy's report states.
"As he moved forward toward [Conway]," said the prosecutor's report, "it was reasonable for the officer to conclude that his intention was to use these knives against him. ... Mr. Newfield, being armed and relatively close to the officer, was in a position to inflict great bodily harm," the report states.
"This investigation made apparent that there were two Anthony Newfields," the report says. "When sober, he was a good person. He was described as an outstanding worker by his employer and was a loving son and brother.
"He had many friends who thought highly of him," says the report. "All these people will deeply miss him and mourn his passing. When he drank, however, a different Anthony Newfield emerged. He turned angry, aggressive and unreasonable. The same people who praised a sober Anthony Newfield described him as a 'mean drunk,' who had a fascination with knives.
"Tragically, on July 23, Mr. Newfield chose to drink to the point of intoxication. The sad events of that night began with that fateful decision," the report states.
January 28, 2003 Tuesday, 2 WEST CENTRAL
SECTION: CONNECTICUT; Pg. B3
LENGTH: 710 words
HEADLINE: OFFICER CLEARED IN FATAL SHOOTING;
A PROSECUTOR CONCLUDES AN OFFICER WAS JUSTIFIED IN SHOOTING AN INTOXICATED MAN WHO LUNGED AT HIM WITH TWO KNIVES.
BYLINE: THOMAS D. WILLIAMS; Courant Staff Writer
DATELINE: NEW BRITAIN --
BODY:
State's Attorney Scott J. Murphy has cleared a city police officer in the July fatal shooting of 34-year-old Anthony E. Newfield.
Murphy found that Newfield was preparing to stab Officer Michael Conway with two knifes when Conway was attempting to arrest him on the night of July 23, following an argument with family. Newfield refused to put down the knives when Conway repeatedly ordered him to do so, Murphy's inquiry concluded. Conway's conduct still must be examined by the city police's Firearms Review Board to decide whether Conway's conduct fell within department guidelines, Det. Harold Gannon, a police spokesman, said Monday. He said the board had been awaiting Murphy's report, and it is not yet known when the board will meet and decide the issue.
Newfield's brother, Robert Newfield, said Monday that he doesn't blame Conway for his brother's death, but he wished that he had waited for backup police officers to arrive before firing the fatal shot.
"Having had six months to dwell on this," he said, "I believe he should have waited for backup."
"Things would have been different that way, but it would also have been different if my brother hadn't been drinking," he said. "It was the hardest thing in my life to deal with. I know a lot of police officers and I understand the stress and strain of a situation like that."
Conway was called to 52 Farmington Ave. at about 8:10 p.m., after Anthony Newfield, a construction worker, became enraged during a family argument, witnesses reported. Before the call, Robert Newfield said Anthony pushed his father, Richard R. Grundwalski, and lunged at him with two knives -- one of which he called "Rambo."
"He was very intoxicated and out of control," Robert Newfield told The Courant soon after the incident. "When he's drunk, that's it. ... It's a tough situation. We don't hold the police responsible. We feel they did what they had to do."
"The officer had no choice, and we feel bad for him," he continued then. "He has to live with something like this for the rest of his life, just like us."
After Anthony Newfield lunged at his father, said Robert, his mother, Judith, called police. She warned them that pepper spray had been ineffective on her son in the past.
Conway, on the force since 1994, asked Anthony Newfield six times to drop his weapons, police said.
Newfield ignored the orders, and lunged at Conway, said police. The officer fired his AR-15 assault rifle, fatally wounding Newfield, said Sgt. J. Paul Vance, a state police spokesman. State police are called to investigate the fatal shooting of a suspect by a police officer. Conway has been placed on administrative duties, a routine procedure when an officer is involved in a shooting.
Murphy concurred with Robert Newfield's initial assessment at the time of the incident that his brother was responsible for his own death.
"Mr. Newfield, on the night of July 23, 2002, was clearly intoxicated, acting in an aggressive manner and voicing threats to cause harm. He continued his aggressive behavior in the face of a show of force from a readily identifiable police officer and demands from him that he drop his weapons," Murphy's report states.
"As he moved forward toward [Conway]," said the prosecutor's report, "it was reasonable for the officer to conclude that his intention was to use these knives against him. ... Mr. Newfield, being armed and relatively close to the officer, was in a position to inflict great bodily harm," the report states.
"This investigation made apparent that there were two Anthony Newfields," the report says. "When sober, he was a good person. He was described as an outstanding worker by his employer and was a loving son and brother.
"He had many friends who thought highly of him," says the report. "All these people will deeply miss him and mourn his passing. When he drank, however, a different Anthony Newfield emerged. He turned angry, aggressive and unreasonable. The same people who praised a sober Anthony Newfield described him as a 'mean drunk,' who had a fascination with knives.
"Tragically, on July 23, Mr. Newfield chose to drink to the point of intoxication. The sad events of that night began with that fateful decision," the report states.
