‘Wasn't Supposed to Happen': Bridgeport Police Shooting Victim Speaks

On the same day as 15-year-old Jayson Negron’s funeral, the passenger in the car who survived after being shot twice during a Bridgeport office-involved shooting is sharing his account of what happened.

"I’m still here, the whole time I’m thinking, 'what if I wasn’t here? how would things be then?'," Julian Fyffe, 21, said in an interview with NBC Connecticut.

Eight days after being shot by Bridgeport Police Officer James Boulay, Fyffe is home recovering with bandages on his back and around his arm.

"That wasn’t supposed to happen," Fyffe said. "I felt like they could have came about this a different way."

Fyffe said he had been friends with Negron for about a year.

"I look at him like he’s my little brother," Fyffe said.

Fyffe said he had no clue he got into a stolen car when Negron picked him up at his home on May 9 to go to a recording studio in the late afternoon. He said they pulled into the Walgreens parking lot after noticing a police car following them.

"And I could see him kind of looking nervous stuff and I’m like you got park it up and we got to get out," Fyffe said.

The car moved slowly toward the ramp onto Fairfield avenue before turning the wrong way on the one-way street, Fyffe said.

"I’m like, 'wrong way you got to back up'," Fyffe said recalling what he told Negron. "He’s like, 'alright,' throws the car in reverse but before he gets to move or anything two cops, they run down to the car and they both have guns out one is at his window and one is at mine."

Next, Fyffe said an officer opened Negron’s door and tried to grab him.

"The operator put it on drive, moved forward tried to knock off the officer, then put it on reverse at a high rate of speed pinning the officer almost underneath the vehicle and hitting another car that was behind at that point the officer feared for his life," Bridgeport Police Chief AJ Perez said May 10 at a news conference.

Fyffe claimed the officer’s life was not in jeopardy leading up to the shooting.

"But no cops were like in front of the car behind the car getting pinned in or anything like that, I read something the cop was like almost under the car, how are you under the car and still shooting? Like what are you doing?" Fyffe said.

Boulay fired three shots, Fyffe said. The first hit Negron and the second struck Fyffe’s left arm.

"That third shot," he said. "Seen it come through my chest then the blood started coming out of my mouth."

After being handcuffed and slammed to the ground, Fyffe said he waited 15 to 20 minutes for medical attention.

"There was nobody to come by, put pressure on the wounds or even identify where we were shot at," Fyffe said.

Fyffe told NBC Connecticut he is speaking out to set the record straight.

"Why was shooting us the first thing, you know?" he said. "I just ask myself that, but for the most you know, I feel we’ll get justice."

Fyffe’s attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit naming the City of Bridgeport, Perez and Boulay that is seeking more than $6 million in damages.

Rowena White, the spokesperson for the City of Bridgeport and the Police Department had no comment on the lawsuit. She said Mayor Joe Ganim did attend Negron’s funeral.

Officer Boulay remains on paid administrative leave while State Police and a Waterbury State’s Attorney continue their use of force investigation.

State Police want anyone with photos or videos of the shooting to contact them at (203) 696-2569 or text “TIP711” with any information to 274637.

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