Markeshia Ricks Photo
Officers Pessino and Shumway at City Hall Monday.
Alders recognized two officers who recently risked their lives to save others, and paused to remember a retired officer who passed away.
With more than a dozen of their fellow officers looking on in City Hall’s aldermanic chambers Monday night, Officers Scott Shumway and Eric Pessino were recognized for their work in apprehending a man who shot his wife and the both of them one unseasonably hot weekend in September.
Shumway and Pessino were among the officers who responded to an emergency call of shots fired on Elm Street. Both officers were shot in what would become a tense standoff between police and a man who had shot his wife earlier in the day. The man ultimately would be apprehended and arrested, and his wife, a former corrections officer, and star youth outreach worker would survive her wounds.
Quinnipiac Meadows Alder Gerald Antunes, a retired police officer who also serves as the chairman of the alders Public Safety Committee, said that the two officers were not being honored because they were shot. That is an unfortunate reality of the job. They were being honored for “believing in their community, doing what they were sworn to do for us and for considering the safety and well being of others before themselves.”
Antunes pointed out that had those bullets gone three inches to the right or left — both officers were shot in their arms — Monday’s ceremony could have been very different.
“Both officers were struck,” Antunes said. “They didn’t just shoot back as many think they would because that’s what they see on TV. It doesn’t happen that way. They backed away, called for assistance, helped secure the area before being taken away for treatment. They showed great knowledge, restraint, and control. And because of their actions, everyone lived to see another day. These officers are the future of policing in New Haven and they are a part best police department in the state of Connecticut.”
Assistant Police Chief Ontoniel Reyes said that it meant a lot to the department to have alders recognize the work of the officers and the department for their work on that tough day.
“They faced what they were told in the academy they could face and they knew full well what they were dealing with then they walked in the line of fire,” Reyes said of officers Pessino and Shumway. He said how the two officers behaved on that day epitomizes what officers do every day defies a national narrative that says what they did is not common.
“This is what’s common,” he said. “The bravery that they displayed — that’s what’s common. The risk we take every day when we walk out the door that we might not come back is real. This is an important moment to not take for granted what happened that day.”
Fellow Assistant Chief Archie Generoso said that day in September was a trying one for the police department, “but I think it was probably this department’s and this city’s finest hour.
“Everybody responded,” he said. “Everybody did what they were trained to do, and we came out with a very positive outcome and that speaks to the dedication of these officers, and all the officers, firefighters and all the departments that responded including the state and federal agencies.”
Paul Bass File Photo
Hoffman.
Dwight Alder Frank Douglass thanked the officers and said that their response bolstered the confidence of the community.
Annex Alder Alphonse Paolillo Jr. called the officers are the face of community policing, which is bigger than one person or even the police department.
“It’s those 400-plus officers who make that concept a reality every day,” he said. “Every day and night you suit up with the intent to come home and take upon yourselves the actions that we would never take ourselves. Not only did you act heroically, but the whole public safety team acted heroically and professionally.
“It’s not likely, but definitely that you preserved human life,” Paolillo added.
After Pessino and Shumway were recognized Paolillo introduced a resolution on behalf of alder expressing condolences for the death of retired Capt. Jeff Hoffman, who passed away unexpectedly earlier this month. Paolillo noted that Hoffman had served 20 years in the department rising through the ranks to become a district manager and head of the patrol division before he retired.
“He worked with many folks in this room and was a standout officer, but more importantly he was a stand out individual,” Paolillo said.
