New York Officer Exonerated in Killing of Simsbury Man

A grand jury in New York state has determined that the fatal shooting of a West Simsbury man by a police officer on Interstate 84 last May was justified, according to the Mid-Hudson News Network.

Sgt. Robert Sellick shot and killed Michael Murphy, 38, following a chase by Beacon City Police that ended near the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge on May 7.

At the conclusion of that encounter, Murphy approached Sellick with a 12-inch butcher knife and refused to obey orders to drop the weapon, leaving the officer no choice but to fire his service weapon.

District Attorney William Grady said, “The law provides circumstances under which an individual is justified in using deadly physical force and in this particular case the deceased was armed with a 12-inch butcher knife, which he raised and started heading toward Officer Sellick and it was very, very short distance away, a matter of feet, and under the circumstances, the grand jury concluded that, coupled with all of the information that was put before the grand jury that the officer’s actions were justified,” the Mid-Hudson News Network reported.

Read more at www.midhudsonnews.com.