He opened his door and fired at the cruiser behind him. Then he pulled a gun on two people sitting in a parked car and tried to take it.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 · Flatbush Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut · West Hartford Police Department
These are the five videos the Connecticut Office of the Inspector General released on October 3, joined into one in the order the state published them: the pursuing officer’s dashcam, a slow-motion version of it, then body-worn camera video from three officers.
Free — the opening chapterUnits Are SurroundedFive shootings in five months between members of the Soboba Indian Reservation and law enforcement in the Hemet area of Riverside County. My story about being in the middle of it. The full book is coming.Read how it starts
Per the Inspector General’s office: at about 10:15 p.m., Middletown police put out a lookout for a black Subaru Outback they believed was driven by the suspect in a homicide earlier that day in Middletown. At about 10:48 p.m., West Hartford police got a Flock camera alert, found the car near New Park and Oakwood avenues in West Hartford, and pursued. Stop sticks deflated one or more tires.
The Subaru went east on Flatbush Avenue into Hartford, and Hartford officers joined in. Just past Hillside Avenue, the driver, later identified as Barrington Brown, 43, twice opened his door and fired at the West Hartford officer directly behind him. That officer returned fire through his own windshield.
Brown ran between two houses and jumped a fence. Behind 50-52 Flatbush, he came up on a running black Acura with a 17-year-old at the wheel and a 19-year-old beside him, pulled a gun and ordered them out. As they got out, the 17-year-old suffered a superficial gunshot wound to the buttock. Brown got in and tried to drive off. Three West Hartford officers fired at him from along a chain-link fence. He got out, raised his arms and surrendered. A black handgun was found next to the car.
Brown was shot in the shoulder area, treated at Hartford Hospital, arrested by Middletown police and arraigned on charges relating to the Middletown homicide. No officer was injured. The 17-year-old was treated at Connecticut Children’s and released early September 30. The Inspector General’s office says it has not yet been determined whether he was shot by Brown or by the officers.
Case status: The Inspector General’s investigation, with Connecticut State Police Central District Major Crime, is ongoing.
Units Are Surrounded
The new book from Ray Dietrich. Five shootings in five months in Riverside County. The full book is coming - read how it starts, free.

