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A man familiar to police was fatally shot and killed by a Danbury officer at an area senior housing complex has been identified.
Paul Arbitelle was the man shot and killed in after pulling a knife on officers, according to state police. His last known address was on Coal Pit Road in Danbury.
The News-Times named Arbitelle’s mother, Linda, as the person wounded by the gunfire outside the apartments. She is reportedly being treated at Danbury Hospital, but her condition is not known.
Arbitelle was shot around 9:15 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 29, after Danbury police responded to the Glen Apartment Complex on Memorial Drive on a report of a suspicious man.
When officers arrived on the scene, they observed a white male wielding a knife walking around the exterior of the property, the Danbury Police said.
After a brief confrontation with the man, one of the officers deployed his taser on the male, but it was ineffective, state police said.
Shortly after, a second Danbury police officer fired multiple rounds from his duty pistol, striking the man at least once.
Danbury police said the officers were "in imminent, life-threatening danger and acted in self-defense."
In accordance with state law, the Stamford States Attorney has been assigned by the Chief States Attorney to oversee the investigation, which is being conducted by the Connecticut State Police Western District Major Crime Unit.
Arbitelle is no stranger to local law enforcement. A check of his arrest history shows he was was found guilty of interfering with an officer in 2010, DUI in 2009, and assaulting police in 2012 and 2016.
He was also arrested in 2011 for a racially-motivated of a black man. In that case, he pleaded guilty to assault and interfering with the duties of the police. He was sentenced to a year in prison.
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