Police have identified a woman arrested Thursday night after she allegedly opened fire inside the Bristol Police Department.
Police say Suzanne Laprise, 51, of nearby Plainville, entered the department lobby just after 10:30 p.m. and fired multiple rounds at the front lobby office window, which was unoccupied at the time. She has been charged with attempted murder and other crimes.
The rounds did not penetrate the bullet-resistant glass. The department says officers worked to negotiate with the woman, who continued shooting.
“The subject discharged additional rounds toward responding officers prompting one officer to return fire, however, the rounds were again stopped by bullet-resistant glass,” the department said.
She put her gun down and officers say they used a stun gun to subdue her. She was arrested and taken to a hospital for evaluation.
The Connecticut State Police and Office of the Inspector General are investigating.
People without essential police-related business were asked to avoid the area Friday.
Laprise was being held on a $3 million bond and was expected to be arraigned at New Britain Superior Court Friday. She is charged with attempted murder, illegal carry of a firearm while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and a number of other gun-related crimes.
Outside Laprise’s apartment is a doormat that reads “Come back with a warrant,” according to WTIC-TV.
It was not immediately clear if Laprise had a lawyer who could respond to the allegations. A possible relative of Laprise listed in public records declined to comment. Phone messages were left for other possible relatives of Laprise.
Bristol police said that officers' actions were heroic.
“Despite a truly life-threatening incident, they responded with calm, poise, and professionalism, resulting in no loss of life or serious injury to anyone,” police said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The shooting happened almost one year after two Bristol police officers were killed in the line of duty and a third was injured.
Sgt. Dustin DeMonte, Officer Alex Hamzy and Officer Alec Iurato were shot Oct. 12 in what police believe was an ambush set up by a 911 call made by the shooter, Nicholas Brutcher.
DeMonte and Hamzy were killed. Iurato, who survived a gunshot wound to his leg, fired a single shot that killed Brutcher.
This story has been updated. Connecticut Public's Eric Aasen, Patrick Skahill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
