Thanks in part to the help of citizens and their cameras, New Haven is “very close” to solving the mystery of who fired a bullet into a Thompson Street house and injured an 8‑year-old boy, Mayor Toni Harp reported Monday.
The shooting took place Friday at 11:23 p.m. Someone hopped out of a car and fired into the Thompson Street house. An 8‑year-old boy was inside and got hit in the leg. He was hospitalized; he was released form the hospital on Monday. Police believe the shooting was related to an incident earlier that evening when five people were shot outside a party in Hamden. (Click here for a previous story on the shootings.)
“We’re going to solve this case quickly,” Harp said during her latest appearance on WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program.
“We are on it. We are going to get the people who did this.”
New Haven and Hamden police are working together on this investigation.
Harp, who said she walked Thompson Street on Saturday, credited citizens for contributing video footage that is helping the cops track down a suspect. (One example of that footage appears at the top of this story.)
The mayor said in general this kind of citizen participation — the sharing of video with police as cameras become more prevalent — is making the community safer.
Meanwhile, the police have stepped up patrols around Thompson Street and on Washington Avenue, where another nonfatal shooting occurred Sunday. Staffers with Project Longevity — the federal-local law gang-violence effort — are also “going door to door,” as are street outreach workers, in the wake of the weekend violence, Harp said.
Click on the Facebook Live video below to watch the full episode of WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday,” which also featured a discussion with city transportation chief Doug Hausladen about a new “Safe Routes For All” initiative.
WNHH’s “Mayor Monday” is made possible with the support of Gateway Community College and Berchem Moses P.C.