Bridgeport Police said in a statement: “At approximately 6:00pm, there was an officer-involved shooting in the area of Kossuth Street and Beecher Street. At this time, the Inspector General’s Office is taking over the investigation. By state statute, all further information will come from their office.”
2025-03-31@5:55pm–#Bridgeport CT
UPDATE From the Bridgeport Police: Bridgeport Police Department Call for Service 25-26791 / Bridgeport Police Officer-Involved Shooting / 1400 block of Kossuth Street, Bridgeport, CT
On March 31, 2025, at approximately 5:50 pm uniformed Bridgeport Police officers responded to the 1600 block of East Main Street on reports of a large street fight. Suspects involved in the fight were reported to be in possession of firearms. A short time later, Officers responding to the area observed a suspect vehicle near the intersection of Kossuth Street & Beecher Street where they attempted a felony motor vehicle stop. A suspect quickly exited the vehicle and led at least one uniformed police officer in a foot pursuit along Kossuth Street. The foot pursuit ultimately proceeded into a driveway within the 1400 block of Kossuth Street where an officer-involved shooting occurred. A firearm was recovered at the scene (driveway – 1400 block of Kossuth Street). The suspect was transported to Bridgeport Hospital where he underwent surgery. He was pronounced deceased later that same evening.
When a police officer employs deadly force in the line of duty, it is imperative that a thorough and impartial investigation be conducted. Pursuant to the Connecticut Police Accountability Act, the Office of the Inspector General, in collaboration with the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Squad will lead this investigation.
Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter Sr. has full confidence that the Office of the Inspector General will ensure a transparent, comprehensive, and unbiased review of this incident. Any loss of life is a profound tragedy, and we extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased.
In accordance with departmental policy, the Bridgeport police officer(s) involved in this incident will be assigned to modified duty under the Chief’s Office pending the Inspector General’s final determination.
The Bridgeport Police Department remains committed to supporting our officers as they continue to work alongside the community, delivering professional law enforcement services and fostering public safety through fair and equitable policing.
Anyone with information pertinent to this investigation is requested to contact the Office of the Inspector General at (203) 806-1595. Further updates will be provided by the Office of the Inspector General.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. When you shop through our Amazon affiliate links, we receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Your support helps us continue providing free, local breaking news to the Greater Bridgeport area. Every purchase made through our links directly contributes to keeping DoingItLocal running. Thank you for helping us serve the community!
4/8: 3:00-4:30 pm: Candy Sushi Make “sushi” out of candy and other sweet treats! Location: Teen Department. Grades: 6-12. No registration required.
4/9: 4:30-5:30 pm: Bedazzle the Bank April is Financial Literacy Month. To celebrate the importance of saving money, come decorate your very own piggy bank. Come prepared with your coolest designs so you can proudly drop your coins and dollars at home. Location: Lovell Room. Grades: 6-12. No registration required.
4/10: All Day: Let’s Get Loud for Your Library It’s National Library Week & we want to let our elected officials know just how much our library means to us! Stop by & write your personal note & we will get it in the mail. Every voice should be heard. Location: Teen Department. Grades: 6-12. No registration required.
4/14: 4:30-5:30 pm: Express Yourself: Black Out Poetry Words are POWERFUL! They can be used in positive or negative ways. Let’s create some poetry magic with pages from other works of art. Not into poetry? That is ok! Create a story based on what you would like to express. Location: Lovell Room. Grades: 9-12. Registration required.
4/21: 3:30-5:00 pm: DIY Make Your Own Pillow We’re celebrating National Pillow Fight Day by learning how to stuff & sew your own pillow. Maybe we can go outside & have a pillow fight to see how our creations hold up! Location: Lovell Room. Grades: 6-12. Registration required.
4/23: 3:30-4:30 pm: Open Art Calling all artists! Join us in the Teen Department to draw, paint, or sculpt whatever you like! We’ll provide all the supplies, you bring your artistic inspiration! Location: Teen Department. Grades: 6-12. No registration required.
4/28: 4:30-5:30 pm: Express Yourself: Emoji Painting Sometimes life can be an emotional roller coaster! Come express yourself artistically while we discuss positive ways to deal with emotions. All supplies provided. Location: Lovell Room. Grades: 9-12. Registration required.
Bridgeport Firefighters were called to a structure fire at the Singer Building #3 at 510 Barnum Avenue. When they arrived, they found heavy smoke coming from the 5th floor, and a second alarm was sounded for more resources to the scene. Fire Chief Edwards told me that firefighters were challenged with the building being set back from the road. Within an hour, the majority of the fire was knocked down, and firefighters continued to chase hot spots in the building. There were no reported injuries, although paramedics did attend to one firefighter. The fire marshal was called to the scene to investigate the cause of the fire.
The Stratford Police Department’s Narcotics, Vice, and Intelligence (NVI) Unit conducted multiple prostitution sting operations at local motels in February and March. These operations stemmed from a 2024 armed robbery incident in which a man attempting to solicit prostitution was targeted. That investigation led to the arrests of two men and a woman.
Based on intelligence gathered from the 2024 case, police determined that prostitution was prevalent at certain motels in Stratford. The recent sting operations confirmed these findings, resulting in the arrest of 15 individuals, all charged with Patronizing Prostitution. Among those arrested were Artan Ismaili, Marcin Kazmierczak, Daniel Matias, David Alterio, Leuris Pena-Perez, Jamel Michael, Rochelle Smith, Ruben Guaman-Pomavilla, George Lawrence, Charles Sosa, David Diaz, Julio Dacruz, Gary Robert Martino, Suvav Woodward, and Hector Doval.
Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, police have not disclosed the names of the motels involved.
ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG STATEMENT ON LAWLESS TRUMP ELECTION ORDER
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong released the following statement in response to the executive order issued last night by President Donald Trump seeking to illegally defund states who do not comply with his list of voter suppression measures.
“This is a lawless attempt to suppress and manipulate free and fair elections across the United States, from an unhinged aspiring dictator still seeking to rewrite history to erase his defeat more than four years ago. Since 1788—plainly spelled out in Article 1 of the Constitution and repeatedly affirmed by the Supreme Court—elections are run by the states. This is about Donald Trump trying to pick and choose who gets to vote in this country, and that is not what democracy means. We are working closely with states across the country and are evaluating all legal options to protect our constitutional authority to conduct our elections in a manner that respects voters’ rights and our need for safe and secure elections,” said Attorney General Tong.
ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG URGES CONSUMERS TO CHECK ELIGIBILITY FOR COMPENSATION FOR INFLATED GENERIC DRUG PRICES
Attorney General Tong Leads 50 States and Territories Filing Motion for Preliminary Approval for $39.1 Million Settlement with Generic Drug Manufacturer Apotex over Conspiracy to Inflate Prices and Limit Competition
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong is urging consumers to check their eligibility for compensation for certain generic drug purchases as Connecticut leads 50 states and territories in seeking preliminary approval for a $39.1 million settlement with generic drug manufacturer Apotex over conspiracy to inflate prices and limit competition.
Attorney General Tong and the multistate coalition previously announced the settlement in principle with Apotex last fall along with a $10 million settlement with Heritage Pharmaceuticals. At the time of that announcement, the settlement with Apotex was conditioned on the signatures of all necessary states and territories. Those signatures have been obtained, and the coalition is filing the settlement today in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut in Hartford.
If you purchased a generic prescription drug listed here between May 2009 and December 2019, you may be eligible for compensation. To determine your eligibility, call 1-866-290-0182 (Toll-Free), email info@AGGenericDrugs.com or visit www.AGGenericDrugs.com.
“Apotex engaged in a widespread conspiracy to jack up prices and block competition for generic prescription drugs. Their brazen collusion cost American families and our public healthcare programs millions of dollars. If you are among the millions and millions of Americans who purchased one of many prescription drugs covered by our suit, you may be eligible for compensation. I urge you to visit www.AGGenericDrugs.com so you can check the drug list and register your contact information for updates on the claims process” said Attorney General Tong.
The settlement agreements resolve allegations that both Apotex and Heritage engaged in widespread, long-running conspiracies to artificially inflate and manipulate prices, reduce competition, and unreasonably restrain trade with regard to numerous generic prescription drugs. As part of the settlement agreements, both Apotex and Heritage have agreed to cooperate in the ongoing multistate litigations against 30 corporate defendants and 25 individual executives. Both companies have further agreed to injunctive relief to prevent future misconduct and to a series of internal reforms to ensure fair competition and compliance with antitrust laws.
Connecticut is leading a coalition of nearly all states and territories filing three antitrust complaints, starting first in 2016. The first Complaint included Heritage and 17 other corporate Defendants, two individual Defendants, and 15 generic drugs. Two former executives from Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Jeffery Glazer and Jason Malek, have since entered into settlement agreements and are cooperating. The second Complaint was filed in 2019 against Teva Pharmaceuticals and 19 of the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers. The Complaint names 16 individual senior executive Defendants. The third complaint, to be tried first, focuses on 80 topical generic drugs that account for billions of dollars of sales in the United States and names 26 corporate defendants and 10 individual defendants. Six additional pharmaceutical executives have entered into settlement agreements with the States and have been cooperating to support the States’ claims in all three cases.
The cases all stem from a series of investigations built on evidence from several cooperating witnesses at the core of the different conspiracies, a massive document database of over 20 million documents, and a phone records database containing millions of call detail records and contact information for over 600 sales and pricing individuals in the generics industry. Each complaint addresses a different set of drugs and defendants, and lays out an interconnected web of industry executives where these competitors met with each other during industry dinners, “girls nights out”, lunches, cocktail parties, golf outings and communicated via frequent telephone calls, emails and text messages that sowed the seeds for their illegal agreements. Throughout the complaints, defendants use terms like “fair share,” “playing nice in the sandbox,” and “responsible competitor” to describe how they unlawfully discouraged competition, raised prices and enforced an ingrained culture of collusion. Among the records obtained by the States is a two-volume notebook containing the contemporaneous notes of one of the States’ cooperators that memorialized his discussions during phone calls with competitors and internal company meetings over a period of several years.
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico joined in today’s announcement.
Lead Assistant Attorney General Joseph Nielsen and Assistant Attorneys General Alex Frisbee, Kyle Ainsworth, Cara Moody, Paralegal Gaile Colaresi and Deputy Associate Attorney General Nicole Demers, Chief of the Antitrust Section – along with former team members Assistant Attorneys General Laura Martella, Christine Miller and Sage LaRue Zitzkat, and retired Assistant Attorneys General Michael Cole, Rachel Davis, and Toni Conti – assisted the Attorney General in this matter.
ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG STATEMENT ON U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION UPHOLDING FEDERAL GHOST GUN REGULATIONS
(Hartford, CT) — Attorney General William Tong released the following statement regarding the 7-2 decision issued today by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bondi v. Vanderstock upholding federal ghost gun regulations.
“This is a significant win for public safety, for commonsense gun safety laws, and for everyone who cares about keeping crime guns off our streets and out of the hands of dangerous criminals. Ghost guns are guns. They exist for one reason—to evade background checks and law enforcement. The ATF rule is fully lawful and necessary to protect public safety. I will continue to defend our lifesaving gun laws—in any state, in any court, anywhere public safety is under threat. That includes enforcement of Connecticut’s own ghost gun laws, and ongoing efforts to defend our post-Sandy Hook assault weapon and large-capacity magazine bans, commonsense age limits on pistol permits and prohibitions on firearms in state parks,” said Attorney General Tong. “We will not allow crime guns and weapons of war back into our schools, our parks, our houses of worship, our grocery stores, and our communities.”
This was not a Second Amendment case but rather a question of statutory definitions. The case challenged a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule, which clarifies that the definition of “firearms” in the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) includes kits and parts that can be converted into fully-functional firearms. This common-sense clarification does not ban gun kits. Rather, it subjects kits and nearly-complete guns to the same rules as conventionally manufactured guns—including serial number and background check requirements.
Attorney General Tong joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general filing an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold the ATF’s ghost gun rule, arguing that striking it down would harm public safety and hinder law enforcement. The attorneys general described how the rule is consistent with the text, history, and purpose of the GCA and demonstrate that the Fifth Circuit’s decision was erroneous. They argued that the rule is necessary to close a dangerous loophole and stop people who are banned from owning guns from making an end run around existing law—which they were able to do before gun kits were subject to the same regulations as other firearms. Additionally, the coalition shared early evidence that the rule was already improving public safety: multiple jurisdictions had seen a drop in ghost gun recoveries since the rule went into effect in 2023. A copy of the brief is available here.
Connecticut has taken its own commonsense measures to protect the public from the dangers of ghost guns. On October 1, 2019, Connecticut banned the sale and receipt of unfinished frame and lower receiver gun components lacking serial numbers or unique identification, which are used to build ghost guns. In 2023, Attorney General Tong sued four out-of-state firearm dealers for selling and advertising illegal, untraceable ghost gun parts in violation of Connecticut’s 2019 ban. Connecticut has since reached civil settlements with three of the four dealers recovering penalties totaling $885,000. Two of the dealers have ceased operations and a third has committed to putting in place strong controls and reporting to ensure ongoing compliance with Connecticut law.
STRATFORD – Stratford’s Town Planner, Susmitha Attota, will take over as the Planning and Zoning Administrator, effective immediately. With almost 25 years of experience in municipal planning, Susmitha brings a comprehensive understanding of long-range, strategic planning and zoning knowledge to the role. Before becoming Town Planner for Stratford in 2018, she worked in several communities, including municipalities in southeast Florida, upstate New York, and Connecticut.
Susmitha has a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture. She is certified with the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Connecticut Association of Zoning Enforcement Officials.
In her role as Town Planner for Stratford, Susmitha managed a variety of long-range plans for the town, including the development of the most recent update of the Town’s Plan of Conservation and Development, the planning and ongoing implementation of Complete Streets, and the development of coastal resiliency plan updates, all in addition to pursuing grant funding for the implementation of coastal resiliency projects. She has also served as primary staff to the Town’s Planning Commission, Architectural Review Board, and Greenways and Complete Streets Committee.
Mayor Laura R. Hoydick stated, “Susmitha’s keen understanding of Stratford ensures that she will successfully, and responsibly, help navigate the development of our Town. We are fortunate to have a consummate professional within our existing team who is willing and excited to take on this new role, and I look forward to continuing to work with Susmitha and the Planning & Zoning team.”
When asked about her thoughts on moving from Town Planner to Planning & Zoning Administrator, Susmitha remarked, “It has been an absolute honor to serve the Stratford Community as the Town Planner for the past seven years. I will continue to serve with utmost dedication and hard work in my new role to promote responsible development and enhance the quality of life for residents.”
