HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The girlfriend of a man shot to death by Hartford police the day after Christmas had pleaded with a dispatcher to tell officers not to kill him before the shooting, according to a recording of her call to police.
The woman told the dispatcher that Shamar Ogman had become upset in her home for reasons she didn’t fully understand. Earlier in the call, her sister said Ogman was acting “deranged” and walking around outside with a gun, according to the recording released Tuesday by the prosecutor investigating the shooting.
“I’m minding my business and all of a sudden he just breaks out in some rage,” Ogman’s girlfriend said. “I know that he’s under a lot of stress. … Please don’t kill … please tell the officers not to kill my daughter’s father. Please. Please.”
The dispatcher responded, “Obviously that’s not what they want to happen.”
A short time later, after a foot chase, Ogman went behind a trash bin and pointed what looked like a rifle at several Hartford officers, who repeatedly ordered him to drop the weapon and said they didn’t want to have to shoot him, according to the prosecutor and recordings from officers’ body cameras. Ogman had dropped a handgun, but did not drop the rifle, police said.
Officer Ashley Martinez fired one shot that struck Ogman shortly after telling other officers, “He’s pointing it,” according her body camera recording. Police provided medical attention to Ogman, who later died at a hospital, said Ansonia-Milford State’s Attorney Margaret Kelley, who is investigating whether the shooting was justified.
Ogman, 30, had several pending criminal cases that included charges of illegally possessing firearms. A message seeking comment was left for his public defender Wednesday.
Ogman’s aunt, Angel Ogman-Hubbard, told WTIC-TV that Ogman was getting his life back on track after spending some time in jail, which appeared to have affected his mental health.
“Mental health did play a role with a lot of his stress factors on not understanding what was going on in his mind,” she said.
Ogman-Hubbard said she wished officers would have taken more time to assess the situation.
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