Branford Police Officer On Leave Amid Gunfight Probe

BRANFORD, CT — Three days before Matthew Walker opened fire from his Main Street apartment and engaged Branford police in an hours-long standoff, a woman reported concerns about his erratic behavior to authorities.

Walker, 38, shot one person then turned a gun on himself and died inside his apartment at 241 Main St. Ashwin Patel, 65, who was outside his family's liquor store three door down from the apartment, suffered a gunshot wound that was not considered life-threatening.

In an interview with Branford police Chief Jon Mulhern Monday, he told Patch that despite his department’s “outstanding” performance in handling the hours-long siege, there may have been a “failure” by an officer to see important signs about Walker’s state of mind: “Things that were concerning but may not have been recognized.”

Branford police Officer Shannon MacIsaac, who took the report from the woman, was placed on leave pending an internal affairs investigation.

Mulhern said that he would have such an investigation done by a senior officer, but as all of them were involved in Tuesday's standoff, he’s outsourcing the investigation.

“There may have been a failure to recognize signs when the officer took that report,” Mulhern said.

According to Mulhern and Deputy police Chief John Alves, the woman came into the police department to tell police she had concerns about Walker. She told MacIsaac that she did not want police to contact Walker about her report, but said she was worried about his "well-being."

Alves said the woman reported that Walker told her he expected his former girlfriend to come to his home and that if he died, "report my death as murder." Alves said that and other things she reported may have been signs of paranoia. He said that the woman reported Walker was doing “odd things” and exhibiting “strange behaviors.”

MacIsaac took the report, but no action was taken.

Mulhern told Patch that he’s proud of the department and its officers and that their efforts Tuesday were “exemplary.”

But he said that when he learned about the woman’s report, it was “immediately addressed.” He opened an internal affairs investigation and as of Monday when Patch met with Mulhern and Alves, he was waiting for a call back from attorneys he contacted to take over the investigation.

“Any time you look at these critical incidents, we know that in the aftermath, we learn what we could have done differently,” Mulhern said. But, he said, as it pertains to Walker, and the report submitted by the woman in the days before he opened fire and held part of the town hostage, "signs were missed."

“The best we can do now is to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, learn and move forward. And, heal as a department and a community,” he said.

MacIsaac previously worked as an Amtrak police officer, was a federal police officer with the U.S. Treasury Department, and he was a military police officer with the U.S. Marines.

In the coming days, Branford police will release body camera footage of the shooting. In still images provided to Patch, officers can be seen on the ground outside the apartment as Walker, from his second-floor perch, fires repeatedly.

The video footage is from the bodycam worn by Branford police Officer Jeff Couto, a former Connecticut State Police trooper. In it, Branford police Captain Greg Watrous can be heard communicating with other officers as they wait for an armored vehicle to arrive. During the standoff, Walker fires a number of times with different guns, police said.

Mulhern said the work officers did that day was professional in the face of a "critical" threat.

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