The Newport Police Department released body-camera video Friday showing an Aug. 26, 2026, gunfight between officers and a suspected sailboat thief in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island. Police said the suspect opened fire shortly after officers arrived in response to a report of a stolen vessel. Officers returned fire, and the suspect was killed.
In the recording, an officer can be heard repeatedly saying he had been shot in the leg. The supplied account does not identify the officer or describe the severity of his injury.
Police said the call concerned a stolen sailboat in Newport Harbor. The vessel matched the description of a boat named Pathfinder, reported stolen from Liberty Harbor Marina in Jersey City, New Jersey. A report by Boston 25 identified the suspect as Brendan Norris, 27, and said he allegedly took the boat from the New Jersey marina before traveling to Rhode Island. The police statement cited in the account did not provide further details about the suspected theft or the route taken.
Social media posts shared in August by people describing themselves as friends of the boat’s owner asked the public to watch for the missing vessel. The posts described it as a two-masted Hinckley Bermuda 40 yawl.
In a statement accompanying the video’s release, Newport police said they aimed to give the public and media a factual account of the incident and help viewers understand the circumstances surrounding officers’ actions. The department confirmed that Rhode Island State Police are participating in a joint investigation.
The supplied material does not report whether the investigation has reached conclusions about the shooting or the officers’ conduct. It also does not include a response from Norris’s relatives or representatives, or additional findings from state police.
