Officers Found Justified In Fatal Shooting Of Wallingford Man: Inspector General

WALLINGFORD, CT — Two Wallingford police officers were found to be justified in using deadly force in a shooting that killed a 62-year-old man in a 2023 incident in Wallingford, according to a report by the Office of the Inspector General.

Connecticut Inspector General Robert J. Devlin Jr. released a report Friday regarding the “use of deadly force” by the Wallingford Police Department on Oct. 16, 2023 resulting in the death of Donald Passmore.

Devlin said in the report that based on the facts developed during the investigation, he determined that Officers Gordon McCaskill and Robert Bellucci used “deadly force to defend themselves from what they reasonably believed to be a threat of serious injury or death. Accordingly, I find such use of force to be objectively reasonable and justified.”

Police received a 911 call around 2:35 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2023 reporting that a man shot himself in the face in his home in the 100 block of North Airline Road.

McCaskill and Bellucci were sent to investigate and spoke with a woman who said that her boyfriend, Passmore, shot himself in their bedroom, according to Devlin.

“When Officers Bellucci and McCaskill arrived, they found Donald Passmore lying in bed suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound under his chin,” Devlin wrote in the report. “He told the officers that the gun he used was next to him. Passmore was uncooperative with the officers’ efforts to get him medical help. After about nine minutes of dialogue, during which Passmore expressed a desire to die and have officers shoot him, Passmore said, ‘one of you is gonna go’ According to the statements of Officer Bellucci and Officer McCaskill, Passmore then reached to his side and displayed a handgun. Both officers then discharged their weapons. Police recovered a loaded revolver from the bed.”

In her statements to Devlin, Passmore’s girlfriend said that he had been depressed about a few issues and referenced that he would be “better off dead,” according to the report.

She said that while they were downstairs, Passmore got up and began to walk upstairs, and she stopped him and asked what he was going to do. He then went upstairs, while she remained downstairs, and she then heard a “pop” and saw Passmore bleeding from his face, according to the report. She realized that he had shot himself and she ran downstairs to call 911, the report states.

In his statement, McCaskill said Passmore “refused all efforts to get him medical attention,” for the self-inflicted shooting wound.

“He said that he was going to bleed out and would die in bed,” McCaskill wrote in his statement. “To light up the dimly lit room, the officers used their flashlights and weapon-mounted lights. Passmore did not like this and started yelling. The officers did not point their lights in Passmore’s eyes so as not to aggravate the situation. Passmore previously stated that the firearm that he used to shoot himself was beside him on the bed. There was also a long gun at the foot of the bed that Passmore described as a ‘powder gun.’”

McCaskill said that at one point, Passmore stated multiple times that “one of you is gonna go” and began moving his right hand toward his backside in the area where Passmore stated he had his gun, according to the report.

“I understood this to mean Passmore was going to grab the gun and attempt to shoot Officer Bellucci or me,” McCaskill said. “Passmore then moved his right hand fully behind him to where we could not see it. Officer Bellucci and I gave commands to not touch the gun and to show us his right hand. Passmore was moving a blanket behind him around as if he was searching for something.

“After a few seconds, Passmore raised his right hand up from behind his body. In his hand was a dark colored pistol. Pasmore then began sweeping the pistol across the room from his right to left, toward our positions. Officer Bellucci and I then fired multiple shots.”

In his statement, Bellucci said he thought they might be dealing with a “suicide by cop” situation.

Bellucci said they continued talking with Passmore, but “he refused to get down off the bed and refused help.”

“He said he just wanted to die,” according to the report.

Bellucci said they were unable to back off and leave him because they wanted to get him medical attention, and Passmore said that he still had the gun beside him on the bed, according to report.

“Toward the end of the nine-minute encounter, Passmore verbalized that one of us was going to go,” Bellucci said. “At this time, I feared for my life. It appeared that there would be no peaceful resolution with Passmore. Many thoughts raced through my mind to include being able to go home to my family and being able to watch my kids grow up.

“Passmore placed his right hand onto the bed where he had previously indicated that the gun was. It appeared as if he was feeling around for something. Passmore was ordered not to touch the gun and to raise his right hand. Passmore lifted his right arm. At which time I observed that he was holding an object that I immediately and clearly recognized as a gun.

“Passmore pointed the gun in our direction. I discharged my department issued firearm several times to stop the threat.”

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be: “Gunshot wounds of torso.” The manner of death was certified as a homicide.

Passmore’s toxicology report results were “positive for ethanol (drinking alcohol), benzoylecgonine (cocaine degradation product), and lorazepam (anti-anxiety medication),” Devlin wrote in the report. “The alcohol level was 0.17 BAC which is over twice the legal limit to drive a car.”

Read Devlin’s full report here.