A bank robbery suspect police shot Aug. 14 after a chase has died.
State police said the suspect, Christopher T. Anderson, 53, of Hartford, died Aug. 16, succumbing to his injuries.
The office of the chief medical examiner will do an autopsy on the body and is assisting with the investigation.
The incident started when a man handed tellers a note demanding money at First Niagara Bank at 481 Buckland Road in South Windsor on Friday.
A South Windsor police officer saw him fleeing the bank and get into a Toyota Matrix. The officer chased after him into Manchester and a group of Manchester police officers joined in on the pursuit at about 3:30 p.m. The suspect refused to stop for South Windsor and Manchester police.
State police from the Troop K barracks in Colchester responded to the area of routes 384 and 6 in Manchester to help South Windsor and Manchester police with the pursuit at about 3:30 p.m.
The chase ended on Route 44 in Bolton, where the Anderson crashed on the right side of the roadway, according to state police. The suspect started driving again and made it 200 yards before his vehicle broke down near the intersection of Routes 44 and 6, east of Bolton Notch.
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As, State Trooper Brian Contenta and police officers approached the vehicle, state police said Anderson got out of the car and was brandishing a weapon in his hand when he got out of the car and disobeyed authorities' commands to stop. He advanced toward the trooper and officers, state police said.
Manchester Police Officer Jason Wagner deployed a Taser, but it didn't stop the suspect, who ripped the probes out. Anderson continued advancing on the officers with the weapon, prompting Contenta and Manchester Police Officer Layau Eulizier to open fire on him simultaneously and shoot him, state police said. It's unknown how many times Anderson was shot.
There is no word on how many shots were fired, but witnesses said they heard as many as five gun shots.
Anderson was taken to Hartford Hospital in an ambulance after the trooper and officers administered first aid, but died there Sunday. Contenta, Wagner and Eulizier weren't injured, but they were taken to the hospital to be evaluated.
Contenta has been temporarily assigned to administrative duty pending the completion of the investigation, per state police policy. Wagner, the officer who deployed the taser, has been with the Manchester Police Department for 13 years. Eulizier, the Manchester officer who fird the gun, has been with the department for one year.
Police said Anderson acted alone.
Detectives from the Eastern District Major Crime squad and the state's attorney's office in New London responded to the scene. They are looking into how many shots were fired and whether the suspect was indeed armed, state police said.
The Eastern District Major Crime squad continues to investigate the incident. State police were still on scene as of 3 a.m.
Anderson was shot once before by police during a New Haven police investigation into another bank robbery back in October of 2006. New Haven police located him inside a home at 74 Fowler Street and determined he might be armed, police said. When Anderson confronted officers during a lengthy standoff, police were "forced" to fire their guns at him, seriously wounding him, state police said. He was hospitalized after that.
