Man Threatened To Kill 2 Old Saybrook Police Officers: State PD

OLD SAYBROOK, CT — An Old Saybrook man is accused of threatening to kill two Old Saybrook police officers, according to Connecticut State Police.

Christopher O’Neal, 40, was arrested Wednesday after police said he told a delivery driver that he planned to shoot and kill two Old Saybrook police officers. The incident happened Tuesday morning when the driver was talking to O’Neal after making a delivery to his home on King Street in Old Saybrook.

The driver told police that he has made numerous deliveries to O’Neal’s home and had many conversations with him over the years. While they were talking on Tuesday, O’Neal’s dog came outside and O’Neal told the delivery driver that his dog had diabetes and didn’t have long to live.

O’Neal said the only two things in life that mattered to him were his dog and his motorcycle and when his dog dies, he was going to “take everyone out,” according to the arrest affidavit. O’Neal then told the driver he planned to get a .22-caliber rifle with a scope to shoot and kill two Old Saybrook police officers, the affidavit states.

O’Neal specifically mentioned two officers who are active members of the Old Saybrook Police Department. O’Neal told the driver that he was “sick and tired of being harassed by the officers and getting chased around town while he is on his motorcycle,” according to the affidavit.

The delivery driver felt that O’Neal’s threat was sincere and credible. The driver told police that he feared for his own safety by reporting the conversation but felt for the safety of the two officers he had no other option but to make a complaint, according to the affidavit. He also believed O’Neal was capable of carrying out the threat.

Both officers confirmed to investigators that they knew O’Neal and felt his threat was credible and both feared they were in imminent danger of serious physical injury. Both officers said that O’Neal has an extensive criminal history and has shown violent behavior toward Old Saybrook police officers in the past, according to the affidavit.

O’Neal is currently on probation and doesn’t have any guns registered to him. He has two active protective orders against him where he isn’t allowed to possess any firearms, according to police.

O’Neal was arrested and charged with second-degree threatening and disorderly conduct. He was held in lieu of a $50,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.