“Even though my administration cut 48 officer vacant positions from the police force, we still have room to grow this force.”Īnyone with information on any of these shootings is asked to contact the New Haven Police Department at (203) 946-6304. Mayor Justin Elicker said while the police department’s budget had recently been cut, the said there is still room to grow the force. That’s already the total of homicides we saw in 2019 and we are only six months in. Tuesday night’s homicides mark the tenth and eleventh in New Haven this year. “We got a racial war, a gun war, you have a drug war, you have children warring.” “Everybody is fighting,” Alder Honda Smith said. He says there are plans to continue those proactive in-person interactions with persons of interest as well as increasing community-level engagement. “We all know that if people have a good job to take care of their families that some of this violence will stop,” added Tyisha Walker-Meyers, President of the New Haven Board of Alders.ĭue to COVID-19, Chief Reyes says his patrol units haven’t been able to work on relationships in the community. While police say they have done a tremendous job in the past few weeks getting hand guns off the streets, they say more work needs to be done.Ĭhief Reyes and Mayor Justin Elicker came together on Wednesday to discuss the surge in violence, pointing out some of the underlying issues like economic inequality and the lack of resources for the community. “We’re very concerned about what’s going on in this city.”
“Are we throwing up the white flag? No, but we’re throwing up the caution flag,” Reyes. This all comes after a violent weekend where police responded to seven shootings over the course of 72 hours. Reyes said three of the four victims had extensive criminal histories, adding he believes some may be connected. Investigators believe the shooting was in retaliation for another shooting the victim he had just served time for. An ambulance took 33-year-old Ibrahim Valentino Shareef, Jr., of New Haven, to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
at a corner store on Whalley Avenue, between Hobart Street and Blake Street. The second homicide happened just after 10 p.m. He was also taken to the hospital where he is listed in stable condition. An 18-year-old Hamden man had been shot in the neck on State Street near May Street in the Cedar Hill neighborhood. Just before 8:30 p.m., police responded to a third shooting down the street from the second. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance. The victim had a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg. “Someone came out of a sunroof and was shooting,” said New Haven Police Chief Reyes. RELATED: Up to 12 residents displaced following structure fire in New Haven He was shot on Ferry Street near Fox Street while riding a dirt bike. and involved a 20-year-old New Haven man. The second shooting happened just after 7 p.m. Just before 11:30 p.m., police said that Lewis died. He was brought to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police said the 40-year-old Howard Lewis, of Hamden, was shot while sitting in a car with his 15-year-old son and his 18-year-old brother. in the Dixwell neighborhood on Munson Street near Sherman Parkway. (WTNH) - New Haven Police have identified the two people who were killed during the course of four separate shootings on Tuesday.