NORWICH, Conn. -- A reportedly suicidal man shot and critically wounded a Norwich police officer during a lengthy standoff that stretched into Monday night, police said.
Norwich police Officer Jonathan Ley was listened in critical condition, Yale-New Haven Hospital spokesman Mark D'Antonio said. Police at the scene said Ley was shot multiple times.
Officers had gone to the Cedar Glen Apartment Complex at about 2:45 p.m. after getting a report that an armed man there had threatened to provoke police into killing him, according to investigators.
Police had set up a perimeter around the area, and called in special weapons and tactical teams. Several shots were fired at about 4 p.m., and the officer was struck.
Fellow officers took Ley from the building to a local hospital, and he was transferred by helicopter to Yale-New Haven.
Police evacuated the apartment complex, and were trying to negotiate with the man Monday night. It wasn't immediately known if the man was alone. State police were assisting.
Steve Bartlett, who lives on the third floor of the building where the officer was shot, told reporters at the scene his daughter was evacuated by medical personnel after having an anxiety attack when she saw the wounded officer. Bartlett told the Hartford Courant the officer appeared to be hit in the neck and shoulder, and was wearing a bulletproof vest. "It was crazy. I doubt I'll sleep tonight," Bartlett told The Day of New London.
The Norwich Bulletin reported that Ley is a 1992 Norwich Free Academy graduate and has been with the Norwich Police Department since 1998. The newspaper said he also is a Coast Guard veteran and reservist who served on active duty in New York City after 9/11 and in Kuwait in 2008.
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