NEW FAIRFIELD ——
The 15-year-old boy shot and killed early Thursday by his father was armed with a knife, sources said Friday.
Tyler Giuliano, dressed in all black and wearing a black ski mask, may have been trying to break into his aunt's house at 7 Meetinghouse Hill Circle about 1 a.m. Thursday when his aunt called her brother who lives next door. Her brother, identified as Jeffrey Giuliano, armed himself with a handgun and went to investigate.
When he got outside, police said, he found a man dressed in black with a black ski mask covering his face in front of his sister's house. The man was armed with a knife.
A confrontation occurred, state police said. The man dressed in black approached Jeffrey Giuliano in a "threatening manner" and Jeffrey Giuliano feared he was about to be assaulted with the knife, police said. Jeffrey Giuliano then opened fire and struck the assailant in the head.
When state police from the Southbury barracks arrived moments later, they found Jeffrey Giuliano sitting on the grass. He was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts. His son lay dead in the driveway, the knife still in his hand. The medical examiner on Friday determined the cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds.
State police Lt. J. Paul Vance Friday declined to release additional details about the incident. He did say detectives are working to figure what happened during the incident from start to finish. He estimated the investigation would take weeks.
New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge and other sources said Tyler was the son of Jeffrey Giuliano, 44, a local elementary school teacher.
Friends and neighbors said Tyler was a student at New Fairfield High School.
According to public records, Jeffrey Giuliano's sister, Alexis Scocozza, lives at 7 Meetinghouse Hill Circle.
Grant Schoepp, 17, of Middleton Drive, lives one block over from Meetinghouse Hill Circle. He said his parents heard the gunshots, and that he'd heard there was a break-in nearby that had people spooked.
His father, Bill Schoepp, said he is close to the Giulianos, and was too upset to talk. "It's very close to home," he said. "I have nothing to say."
Joe Janse, who said Jeffrey Giuliano was his fifth-grade teacher at Meetinghouse Hill School in 2003 and 2004, said he was shocked.
"I can't believe something like this would happen in such a small town, to such a great family," he said.
A group of New Fairfield High School students talked about Tyler Giuliano and his father as they stood in a driveway on Middleton Drive Thursday night. They declined to give their names.
One said Tyler played trumpet in the high school marching band. He said Tyler and his father were close.
School Superintendent Alicia Roy sent a letter to parents and staff Thursday.
"Our district has experienced a tragedy that has affected us deeply. … This tragedy was not discussed with the students as the facts were not clear. Students and staff will react in different ways."
"We will try to maintain our typical routine and encourage you to do the same," the letter read. An open house at the high school scheduled for Thursday evening was cancelled .
"Clearly, the town is devastated by this and our heart aches for the family," Hodge said.
State police Western District Major Crime Squad detectives are investigating.
Courant staff writer Samaia Hernandez and Ayana Harry of FOX CT contributed to this story.
