A 15-year-old boy, Jacob Craggett, was shot dead in the Hill Friday evening, and his brother and a third young man were reported in “critical but stable condition” at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
The three were shot at the intersection of Vernon Street and Davenport Avenue, according to mayoral spokesman Laurence Grotheer. The other victims were 22 and 23 years old.
The three young men were in a car with a fourth person when, police believe, two men approached the vehicle and started shooting.
“From all indications it seems the victims’ car was specifically targeted in this incident; this does not appear to be a random attack,” Grotheer reported. “Police are asking anyone with additional information about this incident to call detectives at 203 – 946-6316.”
“While we await additional information from the police investigation we join all city residents mourning the violent death of this 15 year-old child,” Mayor Toni Harp, who visited Craggett’s family along with Police Chief Dean Esserman and Assistant Chief Archie Generoso, was quoted as saying in a release. “This heartbreaking incident underscores one more time the tragic potential of all-too-easy access to guns that have no useful purpose on city streets.”