Office of Inspector General says use of force in 2009 East Hartford shooting justified

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report on Tuesday regarding a fatal police shooting in 2009. The shooting happened in May 2009, according to the report. Just after 1:30 p.m., East Hartford police were notified by the estranged wife of Robert Gilbert that he had tried to take his life. The wife reported that Gilbert said he would try to take his life that day and refused to tell her his location.

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Scoop News DeskEast Hartford · Published Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at 1:40 AM UTCUpdated Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at 2:06 AM UTC

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The Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Squad responded to the scene, and the investigation was finished by January 2010, pending a review and a decision by the Hartford State's Attorney on whether the use of deadly force was justified. According to the OIG, they discovered the absence of the final report during an attempt to help the Major Crime Squads of the state police with disposing of seized evidence in various deadly force investigations that had been completed and closed over the years.