Norwich man charged with shooting at police officer deemed competent for trial
New London — Andrew O'Lone, the man accused of shooting at a Norwich police officer several times and prompting a manhunt, appeared in court Thursday morning and was deemed competent to stand trial.
The 28-year-old Norwich man appeared in New London Superior Court Part A, where major crimes are heard, after undergoing a psychiatric competency evaluation by the Office of Forensic Evaluations in Norwich. His attorney Mike Miller did not challenge its findings.
O'Lone was charged Oct. 27, the day after he allegedly used a rifle to fire several bullets at a Norwich police cruiser, narrowly missing an officer who was responding to the area of Westwood Park after shots were reportedly fired in the area.
O'Lone eventually surrendered to police at his 123 Westwood Park home after a manhunt and was charged with attempted murder, attempted first-degree assault, assault on a public safety officer, illegal possession of an assault weapon, first-degree criminal mischief and first-degree reckless endangerment. Police have said he doesn't have a valid pistol permit.
During a court appearance last month Miller, the public defender appointed to represent O’Lone, entered a plea of not guilty on all charges and asked Judge Hillary B. Strackbein for the competency hearing. Miller said he is now gathering evidence “trying to get a picture of his (client’s) mental health.”
O’Lone, Miller said, has been under a conservatorship for at least a year and has “a very long mental health history.”
O’Lone is being held at Garner Correctional Facility in lieu of a $1 million bond, according to court records and the state Department of Correction. The next court date in his case is scheduled for Jan. 26.
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