2008 Woodie Awards
Man Allegedly Shoots Girlfriend In Coventry
Hostage Situation Developed As Man Approached Bar
Andrew Porter
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: News
COVENTRY - A man allegedly shot and severely wounded his girlfriend and then caused a panic at The Bidwell Tavern Monday when he reportedly tried to enter the restaurant carrying both a gun and one of his children.
The Coventry Police Department located the man - whose name has not been released - in the parking lot near the bar, where he told officers he was going to shoot himself, according to a joint press release from the State and Coventry Police. The officers entered negotiations with the man and eventually convinced him to drop his weapon. Officers used a Taser to subdue him and he is currently in police custody. The child - who according to the release appeared to be physically unharmed - was taken to an area hospital.
During the negotiations, the man told police he had shot a woman in his apartment, according to the release. Emergency medical staff from the Coventry Fire Department went to the scene and provided treatment for the woman. A LifeStar helicopter took her to Hartford Hospital. Neither her name nor her condition has been released.
According to the Associated Press, an employee at the restaurant who did not give her name identified the man as a dishwasher at the Tavern known as "Junior." She said he asked to use the bar's phone and told co-workers he had shot his girlfriend.
"He said he killed Amanda," she said.
The staff locked the door and, according to the Associated Press, gunshots were heard outside.
Melissa Smith, 31, of Willington, a customer who was in the restaurant at the time said she saw two men arguing behind the restaurant when a waitress screamed for everyone to move to the front of the restaurant. She said in the chaotic scene, she, along with other patrons - a number she estimated at 50 to 60 - huddled around the bar for what "felt like forever," before a waitress instructed them to move to the establishment's basement, where police eventually reached them.
Smith said the restaurant's staff were taking care of a 5- or 6-year-old boy, who she believed was the gunman's other child, throughout the incident.
Police, who reported to the scene following several emergency calls at approximately 5:45 p.m., closed down part of Route 31 near the restaurant until after 11:30 p.m. Monday.
The Connecticut State Police, Willimantic Police, UConn Police Department and Capitol Region Emergency Response Team also responded to the incident, according to the release.
Contact Andrew Porter at
Andrew.Porter@UConn.edu.
The Coventry Police Department located the man - whose name has not been released - in the parking lot near the bar, where he told officers he was going to shoot himself, according to a joint press release from the State and Coventry Police. The officers entered negotiations with the man and eventually convinced him to drop his weapon. Officers used a Taser to subdue him and he is currently in police custody. The child - who according to the release appeared to be physically unharmed - was taken to an area hospital.
During the negotiations, the man told police he had shot a woman in his apartment, according to the release. Emergency medical staff from the Coventry Fire Department went to the scene and provided treatment for the woman. A LifeStar helicopter took her to Hartford Hospital. Neither her name nor her condition has been released.
According to the Associated Press, an employee at the restaurant who did not give her name identified the man as a dishwasher at the Tavern known as "Junior." She said he asked to use the bar's phone and told co-workers he had shot his girlfriend.
"He said he killed Amanda," she said.
The staff locked the door and, according to the Associated Press, gunshots were heard outside.
Melissa Smith, 31, of Willington, a customer who was in the restaurant at the time said she saw two men arguing behind the restaurant when a waitress screamed for everyone to move to the front of the restaurant. She said in the chaotic scene, she, along with other patrons - a number she estimated at 50 to 60 - huddled around the bar for what "felt like forever," before a waitress instructed them to move to the establishment's basement, where police eventually reached them.
Smith said the restaurant's staff were taking care of a 5- or 6-year-old boy, who she believed was the gunman's other child, throughout the incident.
Police, who reported to the scene following several emergency calls at approximately 5:45 p.m., closed down part of Route 31 near the restaurant until after 11:30 p.m. Monday.
The Connecticut State Police, Willimantic Police, UConn Police Department and Capitol Region Emergency Response Team also responded to the incident, according to the release.
Contact Andrew Porter at
Andrew.Porter@UConn.edu.
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