A man who was fatally shot by police in Connecticut last week had a pistol and fired at a police dog as he attempted to flee from state troopers and other officers serving a warrant for a 2022 shooting, according to a preliminary report released Wednesday by the state's Office of Inspector General.
Vaughn R. Malloy, 42, can be seen on police body-camera video running from the rear of a home in the Pawcatuck section of Stonington, near the Rhode Island state line, on Dec. 21, and ignoring police demands to stop. Police then fired two “less lethal impact munitions” at Malloy before deploying the dog, known as Broko, to stop him.
“During this engagement, Malloy fired several rounds at the canine and Troopers striking a police vehicle and killing the Connecticut Police canine,” according to the report. Malloy’s actions cannot be seen clearly in the two police body-camera videos released with the inspector general’s report. Police are seen and heard on the video firing at and striking Malloy as the dog is heard whimpering.
Police can be heard demanding Malloy to “put your hands up" as he lays partly on a sidewalk and a road. One officer asks, “Where's the gun?” Another responds, “Next to him. Gun's next to him.”
Malloy was later pronounced dead at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner determined he died from “gunshot wounds of torso and extremities.”
State Police said after the incident that Broko, the police dog, “courageously gave his life protecting his handler, fellow troopers, and our community.”
According to the preliminary status report, the Connecticut State Violent Crime Task Force-East, which included officers from the Norwich, Groton Town and Waterford police departments, was attempting to execute an arrest warrant that had been issued on June 20, 2022, for first-degree assault. Malloy was accused of firing into the front of a Norwich home on April 28, 2022, striking a female victim.
The task force had obtained a search warrant to search the Pawcatuck home for Malloy on Dec. 21, the report said.
Police can be heard in the body cam audio announcing multiple times before the shooting that the Connecticut State Police had a warrant for Malloy and repeatedly ordered him to come to the front door with his hands up and nothing in his hands. According to the report, Malloy ran out the back of the house after the tactical unit breached the front door using an extended ram attached to the front of their armored vehicle.
The case remains under investigation by multiple agencies.
