(Updated) A fatal shooting early Saturday broke the calm of New Haven’s relatively quiet summer — and recast the spotlight on rowdy downtown nightlife.
A Bridgeport man was shot near the Gotham Citi nightclub and died soon after. Police arrested three Hartford men in connection with the shooting, saying it resulted from an argument that began inside the bar. The men are being held on $2.5 million bond each.
The victim was identified Sunday as 21-year-old Javier Cosme.
Police went to a parking lot by the bar at Crown and Church after hearing gunshots at 3:12 a.m. They found the victim there; he died at the hospital soon after.
“Extra duty and patrol officers immediately closed down the parking lot and secured numerous individuals,” Lt. Lisa Dadio said in a release. “The Major Crime Unit responded with several detectives and supervisors to conduct the investigation,” and located the three suspects and made the arrests.
Police Chief Frank Limon has said that one key to solving murders faster is having lots of cops on the scene right away. That happened with this shooting. Assistant Chief Thomas Wheeler made that point in a release: “Today’s homicide arrest by the members of the New Haven Police Department was accomplished because of extra duty officers rapid response to the incident and their ability to contain the crime scene. Because of the immediate deployment of a substantial amount of Major Crime sergeants and detectives, they were able to follow up on leads that led to witnesses and suspects. The Major Crime Unit conducted an exhaustive investigation that led to swift arrests and the charging of several suspects with murder and related charges.”
Violence near downtown bars has led to calls for action by some city aldermen, including a new law that gives the city the right to require clubs to hire extra-duty cops. Background stories here, here, and here.