As a Connecticut community mourns the death of a prominent faith leader, the state police have launched an investigation into how he was struck and killed while crossing the street near his home in Stamford.
Rev. Tommie Jackson, 69, was killed on Wednesday, July 26. He was a pastor at Rehoboth Fellowship Church and Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church and was actively involved in the community. His wife is a Stamford police commissioner, and he was the city’s assistant director of the Urban Redevelopment Commission.
Stamford Assistant Police Chief Silas Redd said Jackson was a “friend and partner” to the department. However, Jackson’s family attorney believes the officer from that department who fatally struck him was at fault.
According to the state investigators, Stamford Police Officer Zachary Lockwood was responding to an accident with his lights on when he struck Jackson near his home on Wire Mill Road around 4:10 p.m.
The state police found that Lockwood, 24, was driving eastbound on Wire Mill Road when he encountered Jackson crossing the road after retrieving items from his mailbox. While reportedly trying to avoid the collision, Lockwood swerved into the westbound lane. He immediately performed CPR on Jackson until medics arrived. Jackson was later pronounced dead at Stamford Hospital.
Details regarding Lockwood’s speed at the time of the crash were not disclosed by the state police. However, in accordance with “customary protocol.” Lockwood, a Stamford officer since April 2022, was placed on paid administrative leave and offered peer support from the department, according to Connecticut State Police Lt. Katharine Cummings.
Jackson’s family attorney and friends have questioned how the officer could make a mistake and hit the man who was “big and tall and strong.”
“What my investigation is telling me is that he possibly was distracted at the time of the accident,” said attorney Darnell Crosland….
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