A white police officer in Connecticut who fatally shot a Black man suffering a mental health crisis has been charged with manslaughter after a state investigation found he failed to de-escalate the confrontation.The officer, Joseph Magnano, was fired by the Hartford Police Department following the Feb. 27 shooting of Steven Jones, a 55-year-old man with a history of mental illness who had been walking through the street holding a large knife.Magnano was charged Monday by the Connecticut Inspector General after he turned himself into law enforcement, according to Hartford Police Union President James Rutkauski. Information about his attorney was not immediately available.The shooting drew widespread public outcry and questions over Hartford’s policies around responding to people in mental distress.Body camera footage showed Magnano arriving at the scene as three other officers were in the process of trying to calm Jones, who had used the knife to cut himself and was suicidal, according to a 911 call made by his sister.
While the officers kept their distance from Jones and spoke to him softly, Magnano immediately began shouting at him to drop the knife. He then fired nine shots at Jones, less than a minute after leaving his vehicle.
