The Connecticut state trooper who fatally shot 19 year old Black driver Mubarak Soulemane has finally been arrested.
Brian North, who fired 7 shots into Mubarak Soulemane’s vehicle after a high speed chase that happened in January 2020, was charged with first-degree manslaughter with a firearm Tuesday night. Officials shared that for the last two years, North was placed on paid administrative leave and stripped of his police responsibilities while an investigation took place.
According to a report released Wednesday morning, Inspector General Robert Devlin’s office stated the shooting was unjustifiable.
“At the time Trooper North fired his weapon, neither he nor any other person was in imminent danger of serious injury or death from a knife attack at the hands of Soulemane,” the report read. “Further, any belief that persons were in such danger was not reasonable.”
The trooper killed Soulemane after a high speed chase that took place in New Haven where the victim wound up having his vehicle boxed in by police cars. North posted $50,000 bail and has an arraignment in Superior Court in Milford scheduled for May 3.
“The family of Mubarak Soulemane is very happy that, after 2+ years, Trooper Brian North, who murdered Mubarak in West Haven in January 2020, may be brought to justice,” Mark Arons, a lawyer for the Soulemane family, said in a statement Tuesday night. “It’s a long road ahead. But this is a good day.”
State police claimed that Soulemane carjacked a vehicle on January 15, 2020. Officials stated that he then struck two police cruisers and a civilian vehicle before being boxed in by officers. State police body cameras show a West Haven officer repeatedly striking the passenger window until it breaks before another trooper attempted to deploy his stun gun on Soulemane.
North then fired seven shots through the driver’s door window when Soulemane allegedly revealed a knife, said state police.
Soulemane’s family has shared he was a community college student who was diagnosed with schizophrenia.