Man ruled not guilty by reason of mental disease in attempted murder of Norwich officer
New London Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Leaming on Wednesday ruled Andrew O’Lone not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect in the attempted murder of a Norwich police officer.
Leaming’s ruling comes following two days of trial testimony last week in which defense attorney Michael Miller offered evidence that O’Lone was suffering from significant mental illness when he opened fire with a semiautomatic AR-15-style rifle on Norwich Police Officer Scott Dupointe in 2021.
Leaming, records show, ruled that state prosecutors had proved their underlying case but that O’Lone “lacked the substantial capacity as the result of mental disease or defect to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or control his conduct,” the criteria for the not guilty verdict.
O’Lone was tried on charges of attempted murder, attempted assault on a public safety officer, attempted first-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, first-degree criminal mischief, illegal possession of an assault weapon and illegal possession of a high-capacity magazine. Leaming vacated the charge of first-degree assault in favor of the attempted murder charge, records show.
Leaming is expected to sentence O’Lone on Jan. 14, 2025, to an undetermined length of time at Whiting Forensic Hospital in the custody of the state Psychiatric Security Review Board.
In the wake of Wednesday’s decision, O’Lone was expected to be transferred from the custody of the state Department of Correction to Whiting, where he will be evaluated by staff from the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
On the night of Oct. 26, 2021, O’Lone was living at Westwood Park in Norwich, when neighbors reported shots fired in the area. Dupointe was responding to the call and driving on Dunham Street when police said O’Lone opened fire with the AR-15-style rifle with a 30-round magazine. O’Lone was diagnosed at an early age with mental health problems and in and out of treatment for most of his life.
It remains unclear where he obtained the gun.
g.smith@theday.com
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