NS man identified in Hartford robbery/suicide

Hartford — Hartford police have identified the man who robbed a McDonald's restaurant and then shot himself to death as 21-year-old Kyle Smith of North Stonington.

Smith is the son of Stonington police Sgt. Bruce Smith.

Sgt. Christene Mertes, public information officer for Hartford police, said police responded to the Flatbush Avenue robbery at 5:35 p.m. Thursday.

Upon arrival, officers learned that a white male suspect who was armed fled the scene in a Toyota pickup truck.
The suspect vehicle was located, unoccupied, at 12 Bonner St. at approximately 6:09 p.m. Witnesses reported that the suspect, armed with a handgun, had entered the woods adjacent to Trinity College, prompting the college to lock down.

Around the same time this was happening, state police issued a "be on the look out" bulletin for Kyle Smith after they received word from his family that he was despondent and suicidal.

A perimeter was established and a State Police K9 from Colchester responded to assist in the search, said Mertes. At about 7:44 p.m. officers heard a gunshot from a wooded area being searched near 255 Zion St. Officers located a white male matching the suspect's description with an apparent self-inflicted gun shot wound.

Emergency medical personnel arrived on scene and presumed him deceased at 9:52 p.m.
The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and ruled the death a suicide by a single gunshot wound to the head.