New Haven Independent

A 14 year-old girl was in stable condition Tuesday after being shot in the stomach, and a 20 year-old man was shot to death at Monterey Place Monday, leaving police rushing to investigate four shootings within 24 hours.

Monday’s two shootings came hours after two unrelated shootings Sunday night: Yale Chaplain Rev. Frederick J. Streets’s adult son was shot during a robbery on the Boulevard, and a man was shot in the leg during a Fair Haven robbery.

Police believe Robert Scott Bennett, the 20-year-old son of drill team leader and youth activist Doug Bethea, was shot to death Monday as part of an ongoing feud between the Tribe and the ‘Ville, said Assistant Police Chief Herman Badger (pictured) at a press conference Tuesday.

There have been “shots going back and forth” between Elm Haven [now Monterey Place] in the Dixwell (“Tribe”) area and Newhallville, (“the ‘Ville”), he said. On Oct. 27, a 21-year old man was shot on Dixwell Avenue near Argyle Street. The victim, from Dixwell Avenue, was shot in the leg. Two blocks away this weekend, a 22-year-old man was also shot in the leg after a brief confrontation at 170 Shelton Ave. early Saturday.

Badger said Bennett’s murder appears to be related to those shootings and to a larger Tribe-Ville feud. “That’s how we’re treating it right now.”

Extra-duty cops working at Monterey Place were already near the scene at the time of Bennett’s shooting, investigating a dispute among girls who were reportedly throwing bleach at each other, said Badger. Shortly after 4:30 p.m., Bennett was found shot in the back on a porch on Ashmun Street. He died shortly after.

In what police say is an unrelated shooting, a 14-year-old girl was shot in the stomach shortly after 8 p.m. Monday. She was walking with two female relatives on Humphrey Street near East Street in Fair Haven, when the group got into an argument with, at least one other individual, who pulled out a gun and shot her in the stomach.

“It’s hard to know whether or not she was the target,” but the man did intend to shoot at the party of girls, said Badger. He said the girl had recently moved to New Haven from New York, and had not yet enrolled in the city school system. Badger said he did not know why there was a one-hour delay in reporting the incident.

“Our young children are very challenged and this is the way they handle their disputes,” said Badger, pointing to a trend in youth violence that spiked this summer. He said a third of ID-Net forces had been reassigned to patrol, and noted the mayor planned to disband the squad and amp up walking patrols through new recruits.

Monday’s shootings followed two unrelated shootings late Sunday: 30 year-old Bennett Streets, the son of Yale University Chaplain and police commissioner Rev. Frederick J. Streets, improved from critical to stable condition Monday after being shot twice in the neck Sunday.

Streets told police his car broke down on Whalley Avenue and the Boulevard late Sunday, and at least two masked men tried to rob him. They took him to 1497 Ella Grasso Boulevard, where he was shot inside a hallway during a dispute just before midnight.

Also, a 40-year-old city man was shot in the thigh at 12:17 a.m. at Grand Avenue and Maltby Place. He told police he was shot after a mugger demanded jewelry, and he didn’t have any.

In another, apparently unconnected youth incident Tuesday, a 17 year-old was arrested at the Adult Education Center at 580 Ella T Grasso Boulevard. A caller dialed 911 in the morning, telling police he saw a young man with a gun. The caller recognized the youth as someone who had robbed him a couple weeks ago.

When police officer pulled up outside the school, the suspect ran behind the Adult Ed building, where another officer grabbed him. By that time, the suspect no longer had a gun, but he was in possession of marijuana, said police spokeswoman Bonnie Winchester. Police were still looking for the gun midday Tuesday. They arrested the suspect, a 17 year-old West River resident, for interfering with police and possession of marijuana.

Lastly, police Officer Elvin Rivera, a New Haven Independent cop of the week, was seriously injured in a car accident Monday. The officer was traveling on Blatchley Ave, pursuing a suspect with a weapon, when another car made a U-turn in front of his cruiser, crashing into Rivera’s car. The officer is suffering serious injuries to his neck and back, and is being examined for possible fractured vertebrae, said Badger.