Shooting Victim Dies; Wave Not Random

Police rushed to get a handle on a new spate of targeted gun violence as a 33-year-old father of four daughters was killed in the second homicide and sixth shooting in four days in New Haven and southern Hamden.

Three of the shootings, including the two homicides, happened within a four-block stretch on either side of the Hamden-New Haven line.

The 33-year-old who died Tuesday was a Hamden man named Kevin Mills. Someone shot him out on the street on Dixwell Avenue near the corner of Goodrich around 1:30 p.m. Officers found him lying on the ground near 785 Dixwell Ave. He had been shot repeatedly, including in the neck and the back, police said. He was taken to the hospital, where he died around 4 p.m. He is New Haven’s 18th homicide victim so far in 2021.

Mills left behind two 2‑year-old twins and two other daughters.

Police believe his killing was related to one of the recent string of shootings to hit the area. They are emphasizing to the public that the shootings appear to have intended victims.

“These seem to be isolated to specific individuals. We do not think that there is any randomness to it for anyone to be nervous,” Hamden Police Chief John Sullivan told the Independent Tuesday evening. He said the town has increased patrols and is working closely with New Haven police on these cases.

The other homicide this past week occurred early Sunday just after midnight, around the corner from Tuesday’s shooting and just over the Hamden line at Goodrich and Butler streets. An argument out on the street believed to have involved three people ended with one of them shooting 27-year-old Tyishoun Matheney to death.

Caught In The Middle

A third non-fatal, and believed to be unrelated, shooting occurred early Saturday just after midnight in the middle of those two locations, at Dixwell and Goodrich just over the Hamden line.

It happened out on the street, on Dixwell Avenue. According to people familiar with the incident, a man got into an argument with a woman, who proceeded to get into a car. The man then walked over to a car parked next to it, where he got into an argument with a man named Anthony. (His last name is being withheld.)

The two fought with their hands. Anthony knocked the man to the ground. The man pulled out a gun and fired. He struck Anthony, who fell to the ground as well.

The shooter got up and limped to his car. He drove himself to the hospital, where officers later caught up with him and handcuffed him to his bed.

Anthony was taken to the hospital as well, where he is reportedly is being treated for injuries.

A false report swept town Monday evening that Anthony had died, based on wording in a WTNH story about two ​“weekend murders” in Hamden. It referred to Matheney’s homicide and the non-fatal shooting on Dixwell at Goodrich That report built on a false rumor that the shooting had occurred inside Chazmo’s Cafe at the corner of Goodrich and Dixwell. It didn’t.

But the rumors unnerved patrons. And, owner Charles Bryant said Tuesday, ​“I’m taking the hit.”

Bryant said this late Tuesday afternoon as he sat inside the bar hoping patrons might turn out. Since the false rumors started spreading, he had lost 90 percent of his nightly 50 – 60 person clientele, who tend to be over 35 years old, he said.

It didn’t help on Tuesday when the latest fatal shooting occurred half a block down from Chazmo’s over the New Haven line. Needless to say, Chazmo’s was closed and the incident had nothing to do with the bar.

“I’m so pissed off. I’ve been here 32 years. I have no problems. I make sure people are safe. Whatever happens down the street I don’t control. People come here because it’s the safest bar around.”

Anthony had been inside the bar Friday night but had left with a group of people without incident before the argument began out on Dixwell Avenue, Bryant said.

Bryant had the TV above the bar turned to WTNH, hoping to see a correction about the alleged murder that never happened in his bar. The news instead focused on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation announcement and a new mask ban declared in Hartford. The story had been corrected on the WTNH website, although a summary on a search page continued to refer to ​“two weekend murders.”

Hamden Chief Sullivan confirmed that police have found Chazmo’s to be a safely run establishment. ​“He does a good job out there,” Sullivan said. ​“We’ve had a great relationship.”

He also said his department has ​“strong leads” in both weekend shootings.

Uber Driver’s Passenger May Have Been Targeted

Meanwhile, a few details have emerged about a Monday shooting of an Uber driversuggesting that was a targeted incident, not a random act, as well.

In that incident, a bullet grazed the head of a 49-year-old Uber driver while he was transporting a passenger on Crescent Street between Ella Grasso Boulevard and Munson Street in New Haven.

The bullet didn’t end up entering his skull, according to police. The driver drove erratically after being hit, but was conscious and alert when officers stopped him.

Someone in a passing car had fired bullets at the Uber driver’s vehicle.

The Uber driver was transporting a 15-year-old girl to her mother’s house in Fair Haven at the time. The girl is believed to have been the target of the shooting. Officers later found 10 millimeter bullets fired near the scene.

This week’s spate of shootings continue a bloody year in New Haven and southern Hamden.

Also this past Saturday, two separate non-fatal shootings occurred within blocks of each other in New Haven’s Hill neighborhood Saturday, at 5:43 p.m. and 8:03 p.m., one involving a 33-year-old male victim, the other a 34-year-old male victim, according to police spokesperson Officer Scott Shumway. A 33-year-old man was shot on George Street between Derby and Norton Friday at 3:55 p.m.; his injuries were also described as non-life-threatening.

Hamden has had three homicides this year.

Kevin Mills’ killing Tuesday was New Haven’s 18th homicide of the year.

In January, Alfreda Youmans, 50, and Jeffrey Dotson, 42, were found dead by the police inside a Winthrop Avenue apartment, Jorge Osorio-Caballero, 32, was shot and killed in Fair Haven, Marquis Winfrey, 31, was shot and killed in Newhallville, and Joseph Vincent Mattei, 28, was shot and killed in the Hill. Someone shot Kevin Jiang, 26, to death in Goatville on Feb. 6. Angel Rodriguez, 21, was shot to death in Fair Haven in mid-February, his body dumped by the Mill River in East Rock. Dwaneia Alexandria Turner, 28, was shot to death in the Hill on March 16 during an argument with two other women.

On March 26, Alessia Mesquita was shot dead in Fair Haven. Then 20-year-old Mariyah Inthirath was killed Saturday, May 15, on Sheffield Avenue and Jack Hopeton was killed near Orchard and George on Tuesday, May 18. On May 19, Tashawn Brown was shot dead across from Edgewood Park. On May 26, 34-year-old Adrian Barwise was shot inside a Sherman Parkway house during an apparent argument over a game, according to police. Miguel Ramos, 37, was shot dead on Springside Avenue on June 6.

Richard Whitaker Jr. was shot to death on Columbus Avenue in the Hill on June 15 — after having watched a gunman shoot his brother dead in the neighborhood the previous August.

Ciera Jones, 22, was shot outside her house on Truman Street on July 5 and died days later in the hospital.

On July 10, someone show and killed Kevan Bonilla, 20, on Lombard Street in Fair Haven.