NEW HAVEN, CT—A Yale University police officer's gun discharged while the officer was breaking into a car to stop a person stabbing themself, officials said.

The incident occurred Tuesday night behind a building on the 200 block of Whitney Avenue, which sits near the Yale Peabody Museum. New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said the person in the car was hospitalized in critical condition as of Wednesday.

The state Office of the Inspector General, which investigates shootings by police, is investigating.

Here's what we know about the incident:

What happened

Duane Lovello, head of public safety at Yale, said university officers responded to an incident behind a building in the 200 block of Whitney Avenue at 9:21 p.m. He said a responding officer found an individual locked inside a vehicle who was suffering an emergency.

"In an effort to intercede, the officer broke the vehicle’s window using a firearm that discharged," he said.

Elicker said Yale police were called to the scene for "an emotionally disturbed individual."

"What we're told is that the individual was stabbing himself in a vehicle," he said.

The person in the car was not struck by the discharging gun, according to Lovello and Elicker.

Lovello said the officer rendered aid to the person once they were removed from the car. He said the person was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital, and that the officer also underwent medical evaluation.

Yale police are equipped with body-cams

It was not immediately clear whether the incident was captured on a body-worn camera by the responding officer.

Asked whether there was body-camera footage from the officer involved, Yale's media relations office referred back to its earlier statement on the incident from Lovello and referred further questions to the Office of the Inspector General.

All Yale University police began using body-cams around a decade ago after a pilot program with supervisors, the Yale Daily News reported.

The university's website notes that policy "requires camera to be activated at all times when interacting with the public."

A Connecticut law that went into effect in 2019 requires body-camera footage of police shootings to be released within 96 hours.

2019 shooting involving Yale police officer drew scrutiny

An officer-involved shooting involving Yale and Hamden police in New Haven previously drew scrutiny.

Early on April 16, 2019, Hamden police received a 911 call reporting an armed robbery at a gas station on Arch Street in Hamden. Police subsequently pulled over a red Honda Civic. During the stop, Hamden police Officer Devin Eaton and Yale University Police Officer Terrance Pollock both fired their weapons. Eaton later reported the car's driver, Paul Witherspoon III, had gotten out of the vehicle and that he believed Witherspoon was holding a gun.

No evidence of a weapon was found, according to a report on the incident by the state's attorney's office.

Witherspoon's passenger, Stephanie Washington, was seriously injured in the shooting. Witherspoon was not injured in the incident.

The report by the state's attorney's office later determined Pollock was justified because he believed at the time that Witherspoon and Eaton were exchanging gunfire.

Eaton was charged as a result of the shooting. He pleaded no contest to first-degree assault and was given a suspended prison sentence. He also agreed not to seek employment as a police officer again.

The shooting drew rallies and protests. The state's attorney's report noted the incident had raised questions in the community "concerning the legal authority vested in Yale University police officers."

"Yale University police officers have all the powers conferred upon municipal police officers for the City of New Haven and, as such, their power and authority is not limited to Yale University campus or Yale University properties," the report added.

Includes previous reporting by Hearst Connecticut Media staff.

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