A Bridgeport police officer who was stabbed over the weekend is now out of the hospital and recovering. Officer Marie Cetti was stabbed multiple times while responding to a call for help, Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter said Wednesday morning. The call ended in a police shooting, where the suspect was shot twice.
“The officer who was injured, she was released from the hospital. Her injuries are okay. She’s healing from those injuries. They were non-life threatening and I don’t believe they’re going to be long lasting or impactful on her, physically. Obviously, emotionally, there may be some things she has to address and deal with," Chief Porter said.
The incident happened Saturday morning on Terry Place. Officers were called to respond to a report of an emotionally disturbed person. The Office of the Inspector General released body camera footage of the encounter Tuesday.
The footage shows two officers trying to speak to a man, who investigators identified as 45-year-old Huntley Jackson, in the doorway. Jackson then pushes out of the house onto the porch with a knife in hand and begans stabbing Officer Cetti. That's when investigators said Officer Jesse Jimenez fired his gun twice at Jackson.
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Chief Porter said Jimenez is on administrative status and Officer Cetti and two other officers present, Maria Canhassi and Jahmaine Mercer are on sick leave. Porter said he stands by his officers' actions.
“From my perspective, my officers acted professionally and they acted according to their training. They showed due care in this situation, not only for the suspect, but for his family as well," Chief Porter explained.
Porter added that this was not the first incident with the suspect. In 2022, he said officers were called for a similar incident. Porter said Jackson attacked officers and medics that time. He said officers are trained for these incidents.
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“We do go through trainings to recognize and deal with individuals who might be going through some type of emotional or mental health crisis. Many of our officers are critical incident trained,” Chief Porter said.
Jackson was charged with criminal attempt to commit murder, assault in the first degree, and assault on a public safety officer. His bond was set at $750,000.
The investigation is in the hands of the Office of the Inspector General.
