Investigation Justifies Bridgeport Police Shooting, Cites Aid Delay

A state investigation into the fatal police shooting of Dyshan Best in Bridgeport, Connecticut, has concluded that the use of force was justified, but highlighted a 10-minute delay in medical transport for the wounded man after an officer with a mild anxiety attack used the first arriving ambulance.

Best, a 39-year-old Black man, was shot in the lower back on March 31, 2025, during a foot chase that began after officers responded to reports of a brawl involving about 30 people in a parking lot near East Main Street. The incident followed a funeral, and a witness had reported that Best and another man in a Chevy Tahoe SUV had brandished a gun. When officers arrived, they ordered the occupants out of the vehicle for a pat-down. Best, seated in the passenger side, was holding a bottle of Remy Martin cognac, a vape pen and a cell phone, according to body camera footage. He stepped out but then fled on foot, pursued by Officers Erin Perrotta and Yoon Heo.

The chase led through a Citgo gas station parking lot and into a nearby junkyard filled with disabled vehicles. During the pursuit, Best dropped his shoes and the items in his hands. Inspector General Eliot Prescott's report,...