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Family Sues West Haven Police In Murder-Suicide

On Jan. 18, 2010, Selami Ozdemir returned drunk, armed and angry to the Blohm Street home he shared with wife, Shengyl Rasim. He had been released by police just a day earlier on a domestic violence charge, his second in five months. He fatally shot his wife, then turned the gun on himself, according to police.

This week, an attorney for Rasim's family filed a federal lawsuit against the West Haven Police Department — including two dispatchers, a supervisor and an officer — accusing them of recklessness, negligence and racial discrimination.

A native of Turkey, Rasim, 25, struggled to make herself understood by dispatchers when her husband arrived at the front door of her home carrying a gun, according to the lawsuit. During one of several 911 calls, Rasim admitted she did not speak English, even apologizing to one dispatcher. She said Ozdemir was outside her door, going "boom boom boom."

"No, I'm not sure what 'boom boom boom' is," the dispatcher replied. An officer asked, "What's she calling about now?" according to a transcript of the 911 call.

The family's attorney, Joel T. Faxon, said there is no excuse for the treatment Rasim received from police personnel.

"They didn't care about her," Faxon told Fox CT reporters on Thursday. "They ignored her. They treated her like she was an animal. If somebody calls a police officer and says 'a man is attacking me, boom boom boom,' what do you think that is? It's a gun. Do something about that."

West Haven police would not comment Thursday because the matter involves pending litigation.

Faxon also alleged that members of the department — Officer Christopher Stratton IV; the supervising sergeant, Robert Urrata; and dispatchers Robert Guthrie and Frank Meyer — had committed "unacceptable acts of police misconduct, neglect of duty and conduct unbecoming of an officer."

He also claimed that Rasim's ethnicity contributed to the dismissive behavior of police.

Police had arrested Ozdemir the day before the shooting on a domestic violence charge. Before his release, police issued an order barring him from returning to his wife's home.

After Ozdemir posted $25,000 bail, he violated that order.

Around 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 18, Rasim called police and said her husband had shown up at the home. West Haven officers were dispatched to the residence, but Ozdemir was gone before police arrived.

About 30 minutes later, police got another call from Rasim's home, and over the phone line they heard crying and banging noises. The lawsuit says Rasim was shot multiple times while holding her young child. The couple's second child, 7, was in an upstairs room sleeping. When officers arrived, they found Ozdemir and Rasim dead. The boys were not physically harmed.

"You have a person who is crying out for help," Faxon said. "[Police] know exactly who she is, they know exactly where she is and they know that they have police officers readily available to help her. Yet they don't tell the police officers to go and help her. It's inconceivable."