NEW HAVEN, Conn. — For the most part, New Haven has fared far better than most cities across Connecticut this year in terms of gun violence. But Wednesday night, four people were shot, with one becoming the fifth homicide victim of the year in Elm City.
Just before 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a video obtained exclusively by FOX61 shows men scrambling for cover during a drive-by shooting on Ferry Street.
"Responding detectives found 28 shell casings at the scene," said New Haven's Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson.
The base of the exterior of a convenience store on Ferry St. was riddled with bullets. All three individuals shot, who sustained non-life-threatening injuries, are known to New Haven Police.
"We are not sure who was the intended target of that gunfire but we don't believe it was just a random drive-by shooting," Jacobson said.
Then, across town, earlier in the evening, in the Newhallville neighborhood on Starr Street, near Winchester Avenue, 49-year-old Anthony Oden became the city's fifth homicide victim of the year.
"The evidence indicates that there was more than one shooter," Jacobson noted.
"We've had some issues at this site," said Mayor Justin Elicker (D-New Haven). "We've had an increased police presence and unfortunately this incident occurred right at the same spot where people loiter near the package store."
Police said, as with the three shooting victims in Ferry Street, Oden was known to them.
"I believe that Mr. Oden was shot within the last year and that somebody attempted to rob him several days ago," said Jacobson.
Sources tell FOX61 one of the victims in the drive by shooting on Ferry Street has now been shot six times in his life.
"There are more damn guns on the street today than we've ever had before," said Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Connecticut)
"They're cheaper because there are so many of them. If you're not serious about illegal guns, you're not serious about crime."
But, New Haven police have taken another gun off the streets.
Jacobson, whose nomination as Chief will be voted on by the Board of Alders on July 5, said that, as investigators were combing the Ferry St. scene, they spotted a man they had been tracking for another recent violent crime. He had several outstanding arrest warrants, so they took him into custody and found he had a gun in his possession inside the convenience store.
Tony Terzi is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tterzi@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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