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Masked Teenage Intruder Unknowingly Shot To Death By Father In New Fairfield

NEW FAIRFIELD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- A New Fairfield man fatally shot a masked teenager in self-defense, only to discover the teenager was his son.

Tyler Giuliano, 15, was shot to death outside a home on Meetinghouse Hill Circle at about 1 a.m. Thursday in what appeared to be an attempted burglary. A woman in the home believed someone was trying to break in so she called her brother, Jeffrey Giuliano, who lives next door, CBS 2's Lou Young reported.

Jeffrey Giuliano charged across the lawn with his personal gun in his hand and confronted a man dressed in black and wearing a ski mask, Young reported.

WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau reports

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There appeared to be a weapon in the masked intruder's hand, Young reported. Jeffrey Giuliano fired and the intruder fell to the ground. It was then that he realized that the person he shot and killed was his own son.

"I can't imagine what he felt when he took the mask off," resident Tin DiKit told Young.

"On a lot of different levels this is a real tragedy," New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge added.

When police officers arrived at the scene, they found a distraught Jeffrey Giuliano, a fifth-grade science teacher, overwhelmed with grief, Young reported.

"I can't imagine. I have kids of my own. It's just I guess a double tragedy. I can't imagine," family friend Gregg Lopez told CBS 2's Sean Hennessey on Thursday night.

Tyler Giuliano, a 10th Grader at New Fairfield High School, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Classmates at New Fairfield High got the news late Thursday, and the school district cancelled the high school open house, scheduled for later that night. Those who knew the 15-year-old told CBS 2's Hennessey that trying to break into his aunt's home went against his very nature.

"It was really sad in school. Everybody was talking about it," student Bella Pepe said.

"He's just always nice, like funny," friend Chelsea Lopez added. "It just doesn't make sense to me. Like I would never think he could do that. I would never picture him doing that either."

And that's perhaps the question police may never get an answer to: what was the 15-year-old doing at his aunt's home and why did he lunge at his father who was carrying a gun?

The entire community appeared to be in a state of shock, CBS 2's Young reported.

"When I first received the call, needless to say, I've been in office eight years and you don't hear about such things in New Fairfield," Hodge said. "The town is a close-knit community. It's going to take us a while to get over."

As a father prepares to bury his son, the events were being investigated by police. No charges were immediately filed.

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