HARTFORD -- A Hartford police officer is recovering Thursday morning after he opened fire on a driver who hit him with a car.
Police identified the driver as Christopher Reh, 28, of South Windsor. He was reported missing from South Windsor Wednesday night.
Deputy Chief Brian Foley said Reh was emotionally disturbed, had a knife, and told his mother he was going to "stab police officers." His mother said he had previously been suicidal and had tried to kill himself in the past by slashing himself.
South Windsor officers put out a silver alert on Reh and gave the heads up to Hartford to be on the look out. Police pinged Reh's cell phone and found him on Park Street, and tried to make contact with him.
Around 8:15 p.m. Reh rammed his car into three police cruisers--one of which had an officer in it, and he hit it head-on--before hitting a police officer who was standing in the street. Officer Andrew Nelson Jr., a three-year veteran of the department, then fired his gun several times, hitting Reh twice in the right arm.
Reh drove a short distance further and crashed his car into a nearby building. Both Nelson and Reh were taken to the hospital with non life threatening injuries--Nelson had a minor head injury and was released after being treated, and Reh suffered two gunshots to the right arm and was listed in stable condition.
A second officer, the one who was in the car that was hit head-on, was also taken to the hospital to be evaluated for minor injuries. He was released after being treated.
The call originally came in as an "officer down, shots fired" call and about 30 police officers responded to the scene, along with the Major Crimes Shooting Task Force.
Foley said, "Park street is blanketed in video cameras,” so police will likely have video evidence from the situation.
Reh was arrested and charged with criminal attempt to commit murder, two counts of assault on police, reckless driving, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license and evading responsibility. He is still being treated at the hospital, but bond will be set at $1 million bond.
The State's Attorney's Office is involved and an outside police agency will investigation the police-involved shooting. There is also an ongoing internal investigation.
