A man was shot to death Wednesday afternoon in the West Hills neighborhood.
Police got the call at 12:29 p.m.
They don’t have many details yet on what happened. Witnesses reported see a man chase and fatally shoot another man on South Genesee Street in the vicinity of the McConaughy Terrace housing project and the basketball courts near Whalley Avenue, according to Sgt. Al Vazquez, head of the police department’s major crimes unit. The victim, 23-year-old Brian Gibson of New Haven, was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where “despite the best efforts of medical staff, he died from his wounds,” according to police spokesman Officer David Hartman.
“This was in broad daylight. Kids were out playing in front of their houses,” reported Alderman Brian Wingate, who visited the crime scene.
Police were beginning to canvass the neighborhood and trying to piece together what happened. As of 1:45 p.m. the gunman — described as “a dark complexioned black man, in his late teens to early 20s” with “a blue and white baseball cap” and hair braided down to his neck — was at large. The man is believed to be five-foot-nine or shorter. Police asked anyone with information to call 203 – 946-6304.
Gibson was on probation at the time of the murder.