The Connecticut Inspector General has found that a Bridgeport police officer was justified when he shot a man who had just stabbed one of his fellow officers with a knife in 2024.
The findings of the investigation were detailed in a 23-page report, which cleared Officer Jesse Jimenez of wrongdoing after he shot 45-year-old Huntley Jackson twice on Oct. 5, 2024. The shooting happened after Jackson had stabbed Officer Marie Cetti outside a home on Terry Place, where police responded on the report of an emotionally disturbed person.
“Based on our investigation, I conclude that, under the totality of the circumstances, Officer Jimenez reasonably believed that Jackson posed an immediate threat of serious injury or death to Officer Cetti,” Inspector General Eliot Prescott wrote in the report.
“I find that Officer Jimenez’s use of deadly physical force was objectively reasonable and therefore legally justified under the applicable legal standards.”
“There can be no question that Jackson moved at Cetti with a deadly weapon, a knife, with such speed that a quick reaction was imperative to stop Jackson’s assault,” Prescott concluded.
Prescott said the actions of Jimenez as well as Officer Jah’maine Mercer, who raced to pull Jackson off of Cetti, “undoubtedly spared Cetti from greater injury.”
“Jackson’s behavior at the doorway indicated he was ready to fight, and, as he announced, ready to kill,” Prescott wrote. “No reasonable police officer would have acted differently in defending a fellow officer.”
Bridgeport police Chief Roderick Porter thanked Prescott and his team of investigators for their work.
“Any incident where someone is injured during a police encounter is serious,” Porter said. “I want to express my sincere sympathy to the injured individual and their family. This situation is especially difficult knowing the individual was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time. These are some of the most challenging calls our officers respond to, and the impact on everyone involved is not taken lightly.”
“The findings make clear that the officer’s acted consistently with training while dealing with a rapidly unfolding and dangerous situation,” Porter said. “While the outcome is unfortunate, the investigation confirms the officer’s actions were lawful and appropriate under the circumstances.”
According to the report and body camera footage from the officers who were involved — which was reviewed as part of the investigation — police responded to the home around 1 a.m. and encountered Jackson in the doorway of the residence. Jackson was uncooperative with police and could be heard yelling at Cetti, telling her to “run your (expletive) gun.”
“And one of them is gonna get hurt tonight,” he said during a series of bizarre statements, the footage shows. “There’s gonna be a fight.”
“Combat,” Jackson then shouted. “You got your guns?”
One of the officers at the scene then closes the storm door as Cetti requests another officer over the radio, according to the footage.
As he continues to stand in the doorway looking at police, Jackson appears to lock the storm door, the footage shows. He can then be seen making several inaudible statements to the officers.
Police then ask another individual in the home if he can unlock the door, but Jackson can be seen on the body camera footage standing in the way. The man puts his hand around Jackson and appears to try calming him down as Cetti works to get the door open, the footage shows.
The man then unlocks the door as Jackson has his back to him, at which point Jackson immediately pulls a folding knife out of his pocket and moves toward Cetti, saying “I’m gonna (expletive) kill one of y’all,” the footage shows. He then stabbed Cetti in the back of the neck twice as Mercer moved to separate the two, according to the footage.
Jimenez can be seen drawing his gun and firing at Jackson twice, shooting him in the abdomen, the footage shows.
Jackson was taken to St. Vincent’s Medical Center. He survived the shooting and was later arrested on charges of attempt to commit murder, first-degree assault and assault on a public safety officer. He is being held on $750,000 bond while the charges remain pending in Bridgeport Superior Court.
Cetti was also taken to a hospital and discharged later in the day, the report said. Her two lacerations were closed with surgical staples.
“The Bridgeport Police Department remains committed to transparency, accountability, and improving how we respond to people in crisis,” Porter said. “I appreciate the role of the Inspector General’s Office in providing independent oversight and helping maintain public trust.”