Police ID decomposed, handcuffed body found in Stamford gunman's home
The Stamford Police Department has identified the man whose decomposed body was found handcuffed in the home of a gunman who opened fire at officers during a standoff on Dec. 2.
Police identified the man as 79-year-old Carmine Boccuzzi. The medical examiner said Boccuzzi died due to homicide after "blunt impact injuries of the head and torso with gagging."
Court records show Boccuzzi was renting a room in the home and was also listed on the eviction papers that ultimately brought police to gunman Jed Parkington's home.
The announcement comes on the heels of authorities releasing videos of officers inside an armored vehicle taking fire from Parkington.
Police said Parkington, 63, died by suicide after barricading himself in his home on Oaklawn Avenue. It all started when a state marshal arrived to evict Parkington for failure to pay their mortgage.
The Connecticut Office of Inspector General said Parkington pushed his wife outside when the marshal arrived and said, "Take her someplace safe. This is not going to end well." Parkington was wearing a military shirt with a Nazi insignia on the collar, and appeared to be carrying explosives, the marshal said.
That prompted Stamford Police's Special Response Team and a hostage negotiator to arrive on scene. Tuesday, authorities released seven minutes of phone conversation between Parkington and the negotiator.
"Do you know how long I've been looking for housing? And there's no housing," Parkington said. "How can they throw people out if they don't have any place to put 'em except a shelter?"
"You're pushing people too far. You can't do this to human beings," he added.
After police obtained a search warrant, the SRT team approached his home in an armored vehicle. Parkington opened fire, police said.
Police bodycam video shows the vehicle pulling back. One of the officers says they can't see out of the windshield due to all the damage.
The officers sent a drone to check out the home, and footage from the drone shows Parkington opening fire at it from behind a cinderblock barricade.
Parkington shot himself later that afternoon, police said.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Stamford Police at 203-977-4421.
