A local state trooper is under investigation while state police determine whether he violated the department's social media policy after he described Sandy Hook Elementary School in a Facebook post as a “slaughterhouse” after the 2011 mass shooting there and compared the former state medical examiner to a butcher.

Jeff Rogers, who announced his candidacy for the Montville Town Council after he was denied a seat on the town’s Parks and Recreation Commission, is stationed at Troop E in Montville.

He wrote a lengthy post on his Facebook page Sunday evening, attempting to defend his record as a police officer in response to a story in the Day about his decision to run. The Montville Republican Town Committee's Facebook page later shared the post.

The Day story about Rogers' decision to run for the Town Council referenced a 2011 incident in which Rogers was charged with third-degree assault and risk of injury to a minor following a traffic stop in which he punched a 15-year-old, who had been riding a motor bike on a roadway, several times.

In the post, he described the 2011 traffic stop in detail and other cases he has investigated as a state trooper.

"Sandy Hook....for you news....for me baggage as I was there," he wrote. "I watched as those children were taken from the school stacked like cord wood. I watched investigators break down and cry. I watched Dr. Carver walk through the scene like a butcher through a slaughter house."

State police spokeswoman Trooper First Class Kelly Grant said state police command staff are aware of the post, but did not say specifically whether the post referencing Sandy Hook led to the investigation.

Rogers did not return a voicemail or online message requesting comment Thursday afternoon.

He also worked to defend his record as a state trooper and outline the details of the 2011 traffic stop in an online message to a Day reporter, in other Facebook posts and in a comment on the story on The Day's website.

The state police social media policy says the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection employees are free to express themselves on social media but that posts should not "be detrimental to DESPP, impair the work of DESPP, damage the reputation of another, disparage, embarrass or discredit DESPP, its personnel (or) any of its units or functions."

The policy also states that "to achieve credibility and obtain the public's confidence, DESPP may place reasonable restrictions on employee conduct and hold employees to these standards whether on or off duty."

m.shanahan@theday.com