MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — The Middletown police officer who shot a man after he hit her with a hammer last August was justified in using deadly force by firing her gun, the Office of the Inspector General concluded.
Middletown Police Detective Karli Travis responded to a home on Liberty Street in August 2023 on a report of someone screaming and breaking glass.
As Travis went toward the home, she encountered Winston Tate on the porch. He stood up and started swinging a hammer while walking toward her. The detective asked Tate several times to drop the hammer and to stop.
Tate then charged at Travis and hit her with the hammer, knocking her to the ground, the IG said. After Tate tried to pry the firearm out of Travis' hands in a struggle, she then stood up and fired several shots at Tate, according to Travis' statement to the IG. Detectives found eight shell casings at the scene, the IG's report said.
"Tate was already in my immediate proximity," Travis said in a statement to the IG. "I did not have time to warn him of potential use of deadly force. I yelled for Tate to 'stop' as he continued to raise the hammer in a manner I believed he was going to use it as a weapon. Therefore, I discharged my firearm several times as Tate was striking me with the hammer."
Tate went into the house, and responders later found a blood trail that led to him in the basement. Responders then took Tate to the hospital to treat his gunshot wounds. Tate's family told investigators that he is a combat veteran and was having a mental health crisis, according to the IG.
Travis said she was shot in the hand during the incident and ended up going back to the hospital later that day to get a concussion diagnosis.
Tate faced multiple assault charges and was arraigned in court later that month.
"I’m supposed to not have police contact. When they come around, I was really getting nervous. They called me outside. They called me out there, 'Mr. Tate, come outside,'” Tate said in court.
"The investigation establishes that at the time that Detective Travis discharged her firearm, Tate had rapidly closed the physical distance between them and was actively attacking the officer with a hammer, a weapon capable of causing serious physical injury," said the Inspector General. "Detective Travis reacted reasonably to defend herself. Accordingly, I conclude that under the circumstances presented, Detective Travis’ use of deadly force was justified."
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