Social media spread the word about the April 13 shooting, and immediately it was the talk of the town. First Selectman Melissa Mack issued a brief statement that evening with no details, saying “Today’s events were tragic. However, I am very grateful that all of our officers were unharmed and through the professionalism of our police department Suffield residents were kept safe today.”
The event was featured on TV news that evening and reported in the daily press the next day with more detail. And the Suffield Police Department, sent a press release thanking the media for their understanding and cooperation. Capt. Christopher McKee, the SPD information officer, closed by saying that the investigation of the officer-involved shooting was being conducted by the Major Crime Squad of the Connecticut State Police, and he attached the State press release summarizing the bare bones of the event. Four days later, the State released a supplemental report adding the identification of the deceased suspect.
Official sources have been silent since then. The following is a summary of the event, pieced from many sources, including eye witness reports.
Late that Thursday morning, a bank robbery took place at the Santander Bank in Thompsonville. The suspect, who had implied at the bank that he was armed, escaped in a stolen car. Fortunately, the car’s owner’s GPS-equipped cell phone had been left inside.
Suffield police were soon alerted by West Springfield Police that a stolen car was parked at the Shamrock Café, a roadhouse on East Street South not far from the Windsor Locks border. The police found the car, but at this point things didn’t go as planned. For a reason one might guess, the suspect later identified by the Enfield police as the bank robber had called for a taxi, which soon arrived at the Shamrock. The suspect, carrying a large amount of money, departed to the north.
He didn’t get very far; the ensuing action took place hardly three hundred yards from the café. Things got hot when the taxi was stopped to be checked by a Suffield officer, and exactly what happened then is the principal subject of the ongoing investigation. The officer fired, and the suspect was struck in several places. A neighbor reported about ten shots, in quick sequence. No one else was injured. How the suspect acted with his own gun has not been reported, but the piece was described as a pellet gun, which can look very like the real thing. No video footage of the action has been reported. Enfield police reached the scene after the shooting was over.
The suspect was taken by the Suffield Volunteer Ambulance to St. Francis Hospital, where he was declared dead. It is not the custom of SVAA crews to determine death during transporting. East Street South remained closed until about 10:30 p.m. as the State crime scene crew did its documentation.
The suspect was later identified by the State Police as Thomas Gezotis, age 57, of “no certain address” in West Springfield.
The Suffield officer involved has not been identified. He was taken to a hospital to be checked, and is now on administrative duty.
Capt. McKee has suggested that it may be quite a while before another report is issued by the State Police.