PROSPECT, Connecticut — The Office of Inspector General released its final report into the fatal shooting by a Prospect police officer on Monday.
Michael Strenk, 48, was shot and killed on October 20, 2023 after allegedly charging at the officer with a knife in his hand.
The cause of Strenk's death was determined to be a "gunshot wound to the head," according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The manner of death has been ruled as a homicide.
The investigation establishes that at the time the officer fired his weapon, Strenk was threatening imminent deadly force against him and the officer acted justifiably in stopping the threat.
According to the report from the Office of the Inspector General, Prospect police officers David Terni and Jonathan Slavin were called to the area of Merriman Lane in Prospect on a report of a possible disturbance.
The report states, "In this case, Officer Terni was only on scene for less than 35 seconds before Michael Strenk charged at him with a long kitchen knife, which qualified as a deadly weapon. He was in imminent danger of being stabbed and another reasonable officer in that situation would tend 18 to draw the same conclusion. He attempted to de-escalate by asking Strenk to drop the knife, but it is apparent that Strenk was not amenable to a conversation. Finally, Officer Terni did nothing to precipitate Strenk’s use of deadly force."
When police arrived, they spoke to a neighbor who stated that he heard "suspicious noises" coming from within the residence on Merriman Lane and believed that there was some sort of disturbance occurring inside.
Slavin approached the back of the house while Terni approached the front. One of the front windows had been dislodged, which allowed an opening into the house. In a bodycam video released by investigators, Terni can be heard asking a woman inside the home what happened to the window.
"Mike did it," the woman told the office.
At that time, Strenk was seen opening a kitchen drawer and rummaging inside before removing a knife. Terni ordered Strenk to drop the knife. In the video, Strenk can be seen throwing the knife in the direction of Terni. It passed through the open window and missed the officer.
Strenk then allegedly charged Terni with another knife in his right hand. Terni fired two shots at Strenk, which caused fatal injuries, investigators said.
Emergency Medical Services pronounced Strenk dead at the scene.
Doug Stewart is the Digital Executive Producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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