Police found a person dead in the wreckage of a Torrington house fire who they believe is the suspect who fired a gun inside the home during a domestic disturbance that ended with a woman being shot several times and the house going up in flames.
Torrington police said they believe the suspect who fired the weapon in the home has been located and is deceased. They did not say whether it was a man or a woman. The fire at the home appears to be connected to the domestic disturbance, police said, and it is unclear who set it.
A woman called 911 Wednesday morning to say she'd been shot. Police responded to 497 Highland Avenue at 7:11 a.m. to investigate a domestic disturbance and found the female victim on the porch.
She was suffering from several gunshot wounds, according to police. Responding officers heard about two to four gunshot inside the house when they got there. No weapon has been found at this time.
Police have not released the woman's name, but said she is in stable condition.
In addition to finding a victim, police said shots were also fired inside the house and there was a small fire, which grew and ultimately destroyed the home.
Police used a state police helicopter to search for anyone who might have been involved in the incident, but also said anyone who was still in the home, including the possible shooter, has likely died.
A neighbor who witnessed the incident and provided his account to police said he was watching the news around 7 a.m. when he heard gunshots, followed by a woman's blood-curtailing scream.
”I heard fire cracker gunshot, and it became apparent that it was a gunshot, because I heard a loud female scream, ‘Oh my God,’” neighbor Aaron Spring said.
He looked out his bedroom window and saw the woman who has lived across the street for the past 10 years laying in the snow next to her front steps, so he ran outside to find her crying and losing a lot of blood.
”She was in a lot of pain. She was laying in the snow doubled over," Spring said.
Spring went to check on her and she was bleeding badly. The woman was on the phone with police and authorities asked her to tell the neighbor to leave the property, so he did, he said.
Soon after he left the property, he heard police sirens coming down the street. Once police arrived and were tending to the woman, Spring heard more gunshots fired from inside the home.
Stationed outside the house, police used a public address system to attempt to contact anyone inside, but there was no response.
Minutes later, smoke poured out of the home as it quickly went up in flames. Police said they told firefighters to wait more before trying to get the fire under control and the home eventually collapsed.
”Because we had a weapon involved, and there were shots fired, and we did have a victim with gunshot wounds we needed to make sure that was taken care of before the fire department could go in that building, and at that time, it was not safe for anyone to go in that building," Torrington Police Det. Kevin Tieman said.
Now authorities are waiting on a warrant so they can enter the residence and conduct a search. In the meantime a helicopter circled the area in case the person who fired the gunshots got out, taking aerial photographs and combing wooded sections of the neighborhood to ensure there were no other issues, according to Tieman.
Because of the incident, students, faculty and staff of Torrington High School were ordered to shelter in place until the order was lifted as of 10:10 a.m., according to school officials. Spring said classes in the district were otherwise delayed by two hours due to the incident, but that students were already at the high school, prompting the shelter in place order.
Neighbors were initially evacuated or told to go into "shelter in place" and the street was blocked off during part of the day, but they have since been let back into their homes.
"Every one of those houses has school-aged kids, so no good,' said Spring, who has children in elementary and middle school.
Another neighbor, Ben Roston said he was shocked to hear the news when his 12-year-old son, Alec texted him to say there was a shooting and that someone was hurt. Alec was at a friend's house getting ready to walk to the bus when his friend's dad told them to go in the basement where they'd be safe. Ben Roston stayed in his home, keeping in communication with his son to know he was safe. Meanwhile Alec Roston said he was scared and feared for his life as police arrived in the neighborhood and he saw his other neighbor's house burn.
A small area around the home where the fire and shooting happened has been cordoned off, as the threat to the public has diminished.
The SWAT team also responded and was seen using fire department ladders and pointing guns at the house.
State police have been asked to help with the investigation.
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