This post has been updated.
State police are investigating a shooting involving a Derby police officer that took place early Monday morning.
The officer was on patrol and stopped at a red light on the Derby-Ansonia border. Two young males -- one a minor -- approached his car looking for help.
According to state police, they began pounding on the car windows. At the same time, another vehicle passed by, which got their attention.
Speaking to reporters, Derby Police Chief Gerald Narowski said, “One of the two males that were in distress pulled out a handgun and fired several shots into the passing vehicle. Our officer then engaged that suspect that had a weapon and fired at him, striking the suspect.”
The man with the weapon was identified as 29-year-old Corneilus Mccullough. He was shot in the leg by the police officer. State police say he was treated at Bridgeport Hospital and transported to the Bridgeport Correctional Center. Mccullough was charged with criminal possession of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit. He’s now in stable condition at a local hospital.
Nearby, Ansonia resident Eric Barone was already awake. He said that at 7 o’clock in the morning a bullet rang through his window.
Inside his apartment, he ran to the window and looked out to see what was happening.
“The boy was lying on the ground, and the other one was yelling that he was a child: ‘Please don’t shoot me, please don’t shoot me.’” Barone recounted, “I’m yelling at them, ‘Don’t move, don’t move! You won’t get shot, don’t move.’”
Police say all three men who were at the scene are Black, and the officer involved is white.
Ali Oshinskie is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Ali covers the Naugatuck River Valley for Connecticut Public Radio. Email her at aoshinskie@ctpublic.org and follow her on Twitter at @ahleeoh.
Tucker Ives contributed to this report.
