TW- A Connecticut officer arrived on the scene to find a suspect fatally attacking his unconscious father with a baseball bat. The officer fired nearly 20 rounds, with most or all striking the son, before the son finally stopped the assault.
This sad incident took place in Meridian, Connecticut, on Sunday- July 19th. On that date, officers from the Meridian Police Department responded to a local residence after receiving multiple calls from panicked and screaming neighbors and bystanders. The callers described a "severe domestic incident" taking place with an "armed aggressor" at approximately 10:00 a.m.
The first officer on the scene was Anthony Offiaeli. He witnessed 38-year-old Robert Lee Jenkins lll carrying out an absolutely savage attack on a man lying prone and unconscious on the ground. That man would ultimately be determined to be Robert Jenkins lll's own father, Robert Jenkins Jr. The son was repeatedly striking the father in the head with a baseball bat; although his father was unconscious, and most likely, already deceased.
The following 56 seconds of video captured by Officer Offiaeli's body camera are almost unbelievable. It shows the severity of the attack and the extreme measures the officer was forced to take.
As Officer Offiaeli exits his cruiser, he can be heard desperately requesting for his back-up to "step it up". He quickly began to approach Jenkins lll while VERY firmly shouting orders for him to "drop the bat". You can hear the desperate tone in the officer's screams to the assailant. The neighbors and bystanders are heard screaming at the officer to "shoot him" repeatedly.
Robert Jenkins lll completely ignored Officer Offiaeli and continued to viciously attack his lifeless father. He also completely ignored the eyewitnesses.
Officer Offiaeli was clearly upset at what he was seeing. He shouted strict orders for Jenkins to "put the fucking bat down" while his service weapon was drawn.
Robert Jenkins lll did not act like he even heard the orders while repeatedly striking his father with the bat.
Officer Offiaeli then fired 5 rounds at Jenkins Ill, who was completely unfazed by being shot 5 times and continued his attack. It is believed he was struck by most of these rounds if not all of the rounds.
Officer Offiaeli then took a few steps forward and fired 2 more rounds. The seven rounds striking Jenkins lll did absolutely nothing and he continued attacking his father.
Officer Offiaeli continued to close the distance while firing several more rounds into Jenkins lll. He was somehow unaffected by the next 10 bullets that hit him. He continued the attack after being shot approximately 17 times. He did show a very slight pause during this time, however, he continued hitting his lifeless father.
The last shot seemed to affect Jenkins lll, and he stopped striking his father with the bat, finally. He fell down while delivering a final blow to his father. It was approximately 20 shots fired in total until Jenkins lll stopped the attack and fell.
First responders arrived on the scene and declared Robert Jenkins Jr. (father) deceased. To be honest, he appeared deceased for the entire video. Robert Lee Jenkins lll received treatment on the scene and was taken to a nearby hospital. He ultimately succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at 11:30 p.m. Sunday, July 19th.
A medical examiner determined that he lost his life due to multiple rounds in the torso. His father passed away on the scene from blunt force trauma.
The incident is under investigation to determine if the use of force is objectively reasonable by the officer.
Our thoughts are with everyone involved in this terrible incident. It was incredibly hard to watch and we are quite sure the bystanders and neighbors, and the officers, will not soon forget this tragedy.
Pictured above- Robert Jenkins lll
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