A New Jersey alert about a stolen sailboat prompted authorities in Newport, Rhode Island, to investigate a similar-looking vessel Wednesday morning, leading to an encounter in which a man was killed and a police officer was shot.

Newport officials have not confirmed that the vessel was the 40-foot sailboat reported stolen from a Jersey City marina Saturday, saying only that it appeared to be a vessel of similar description.

Newport police said the city's harbormaster's office was contacted Tuesday by a private party from New Jersey about a stolen sailing vessel and asked to be on the lookout if it entered Newport waters. Similar notifications were reportedly sent to other harbors in the region.

Shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday, the Newport harbormaster spotted a vessel matching a similar description anchored in the city's north anchorage, according to police.

Newport police officers and members of the harbormaster's office approached the vessel to investigate and encountered a man on the bow. Police said the man fled below deck, despite officers' commands.

Police said the man had a firearm and shots were fired during the encounter. The man was killed.

Police later identified the man as Brendan Norris, 27, of Newport, Rhode Island.

A Newport police officer suffered a gunshot wound to a lower extremity and was taken to Newport Hospital. Police said Wednesday evening that the officer had been released from the hospital and was recovering at home.

The encounter came four days after New Jersey State Police received a report that a 40-foot 1968 Hinckley Bermuda sailboat had been stolen from Liberty Harbor Marina in Jersey City.

State police said troopers from the Marine Services Bureau responded to the marina around 11 p.m. Saturday. Police initially sought the public's help identifying a man captured on surveillance video in connection with the theft.

Authorities have not established any connection between Norris and the person captured on surveillance video in Jersey City.

"We can only confirm at this point that it appears to be a vessel of similar description," Newport director of communications Tom Shevlin told News 12.

Rhode Island State Police and the Newport Police Department, in coordination with the Rhode Island attorney general's office, are continuing to investigate the shooting.