Dyshan Best was shot by a Bridgeport officer last year and later died after a delay in getting an ambulance, according to a report released by Connecticut’s Office of the Inspector General. The investigation, issued by Inspector General Eliot Prescott, concluded that the shooting itself was justified but questioned what happened afterward as the officers involved moved ambulances around the scene. Best’s family said the delay could have changed his outcome.
The report describes how events began with a 911 call reporting a brawl involving about 30 people, including some with guns. A witness pointed officers to two men in an SUV, the report said, and Erin Perrotta approached the passenger side and opened the door. Best was shown on police body camera video in the passenger’s seat holding a bottle of alcohol, a vape pen and a cellphone, before Perrotta told him to step out so she could pat him down, the report said. Best then got out and ran as officers chased him.
During the chase, the inspector general said Best pulled out a 9 mm handgun and that officer Yoon Heo fired his gun twice, striking Best once. Prescott said the video evidence supported the conclusion that the shooting was justified because Best pointed his gun backward at Heo as he ran, the report said. After Best fell wounded, the videos show him saying, “I got shot,” and show Heo responding that Best pulled a gun on him, with Best saying, “No I didn’t,” and Heo saying, “Yeah you did.”
Prescott’s findings shifted from the shooting itself to what happened before Best reached the hospital. The investigation said Best, who was bleeding with severe internal injuries, had to wait for an ambulance after an officer described as having a “mild anxiety attack” took the first ambulance that arrived. The report said the first ambulance arrived at the scene at 6:02 p.m., about 14 minutes after the shooting. Instead of transporting Best, the report said other officers urged that ambulance to take away a white officer, Erin Perrotta, who had been involved in the foot chase and whose situation was described as visibly distressed.
According to the report, paramedics said Perrotta declined treatment in the ambulance, and she told investigators, “I am fine, I just needed to get out of here,” which the report attributed to her. The report said another officer described Perrotta at the time as “visibly hysterical (crying and breathing rapidly) and had blood all over her uniform.” The second ambulance arrived at about 6:12 p.m., and hospital records cited in the report said Best was brought in for treatment at 6:22 p.m.—about 10 extra minutes after the first ambulance had arrived.
Best died at 7:41 p.m. as he was undergoing treatment for the gunshot wound, which damaged his liver and right kidney, the report said. Prescott’s report did not say whether the delay in waiting for another ambulance contributed to Best’s death. Best’s family lawyer, Darnell Crosland, disputed parts of the shooting account, including whether Best had a gun, while Prescott said body camera video showed a pistol in Best’s hand. Crosland also argued Best was instead holding a vape pen.
Best’s niece, Tatiana Barrett, told The Associated Press that the report’s revelations angered and saddened family and friends, and she said they believe Best could have survived if he had been taken to the hospital in the first ambulance. “Honestly it’s heartbreaking hearing all these details,” Barrett said, adding that she and others wanted justice for her uncle. In a statement to The Associated Press, Bridgeport police spokeswoman Shawnna White declined to comment on whether Perrotta took the first ambulance when asked Wednesday, and she said the department’s Internal Affairs Division would conduct its own investigation.
Perrotta was out on administrative leave due to an unrelated matter, White said, without disclosing details. Messages were left Wednesday for Perrotta, for Mayor Joe Ganim’s office, and for Prescott’s office, along with the city police union and Crosland. The inspector general report concluded that the shooting was supported by the evidence on video but left unresolved what officials’ decisions meant for Best’s time to treatment after he was shot.