Two police officers were killed and another was seriously wounded while responding to a domestic violence call in Bristol, Conn., the authorities said early Thursday.
Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut identified the two dead officers as members of the Bristol Police Department. Ordering flags in the state lowered to half-staff, he called the shooting a “devastating” reminder of the dangers that police officers face to protect.
The shooting occurred late Wednesday in a residential neighborhood in the Redstone Hill Road area of Bristol, a town in central Connecticut about 80 miles northeast of New York City, the television station WFSB reported.
One witness told an NBC reporter at the scene that he heard multiple rounds of gunshots and later heard a helicopter over the area.
The Connecticut State Police planned a news conference for Thursday morning, but provided few other details about the shooting.
“We are still working diligently to gather accurate information from our investigators and all that are involved,” the state police said.
Around 7 a.m., a motorcade of police vehicles, with emergency lights flashing, silently accompanied the two killed officers from Bristol Hospital to the medical examiner’s office in Farmington on Thursday morning.
Hurubie Meko and Jenny Gross contributed reporting.