Crime & Safety
Fairfield Shooting: Police Fatally Shoot Father Who Beat And Stabbed Family
An officer fatally shot a man in Fairfield. His wife and three children have been hospitalized after a "violent domestic confrontation."
A man was fatally shot by police in Fairfield during a report of a violent domestic assault Tuesday in a quiet and scenic section of town, police said.
Two members of the man’s family were in critical condition, according to reports, which said he had beaten and stabbed four members of the family.
Police responded to the residence on Mountain Laurel Road around 6 a.m. and when the first officer arrived on the scene he was immediately confronted by a man identified as Christopher Andrews, 51, who who was in possession of a weapon, according to State Police Spokesman Trooper First Class Kelly Grant.
The officer discharged his firearm, striking the suspect. The man later died of his injuries.
Police didn’t disclose the weapon the man was holding.
According to police, officers arrived at the house to find that the man’s wife, identified as 50-year-old Kathleen Andrews, and three children had been injured. The children, aged 12, 13 and 15, and the man’s wife, were transported to area hospitals with a variety of blunt trauma injuries and stab wounds.
The Hartford Courant reported the woman and one of the three children are in critical condition.
The woman was transported to Bridgeport Hospital, one child was transported to Yale New Haven Hospital and two other children were transported to St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, according to Grant. Kathleen Andrews was reportedly stabbed in the face, the Connecticut Post reports.
The officer involved in the shooting was also transported to St. Vincent’s Medical Center for evaluation.
Media trucks from Connecticut and New York are on the scene in this normally quiet neighborhood. Media is not being allowed to enter the side of the road where the house is located. The home, located across a river, is right at the entrance to Mountain Laurel Road at the corner of Brookside Drive.
Police said there is no threat to the public and the scene has been secured.
At the request of the Stamford State’s Attorney’s Office, State Police Detectives from the Western District Major Crime Squad have assumed the investigation. Investigators from the Stamford State’s Attorney’s Office responded to the scene and are also assisting with the investigation, according to Grant.
Grant said the identification of the officer, suspect and victims is not being released pending notification to their families. The road will remain shut down into the evening as detectives continue to process the scene.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause and manner of death.
The investigation is active and ongoing, according to Grant.
Return to Patch for updates on this developing story.
Photos by Al Branch, Patch staff. Reporting by Feroze Dhanoa, Vincent Salzo and Al Branch
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