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Lopez: Shocked at shooting in such a “warm, safe neighborhood.”
Kenicha Lopez was at work Monday when she saw the text: Someone had fired bullets outside her child’s school.
“My heart was at 110 miles per minute,” Lopez said.
The text came from her child’s pre-school teacher at Catholic Academy on the grounds of St. Aedan Church at Alden Avenue and Fountain Street in Westville.
The other parents of children at the pre-K‑8 parochial school got texts, too, shortly after the bullets flew. They also received follow-up messages to tell them that the school was on lockdown. And that the kids were safe.
“You would never think something could happen in such a quiet and warm neighborhood,” Lopez said later in the afternoon as she came to pick up her child after school. Like other parents, she expressed both horror at the incident — and appreciation for how well the school handled it.
The shooting occurred shortly before 9 a.m. Here’s what happened, according to Assistant Police Chief Renee Dominguez:
A man was dropping a child off at the school. The man is a “caregiver,” not a parent of the child. The man is a gang member with a history of violence, and had been released just last month from prison.
After the man dropped off the child, as he walked to his vehicle, another man shot at him in the parking lot. The shooter fired at least 10 bullets, based on the number of shell casings found on site.
The man, who was the target of the shooter, was hit by “multiple” bullets. He is now in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No children were outside at the time.
Seven bullets hit the building. One went through a window of an occupied pre‑K classroom. No students (or anyone else) was injured.
“School staff immediately put the school into lockdown,” Dominguez said. “They did a fantastic job.”
Police later put out a description of the shooter — male, 5 – 8 to 5 – 10, about 160 pounds hooded sweatshirt and mask under his eyes”— and of his vehicle: “white. possibly a pickup and possibly a Dodge brand new, possible rack, possible work truck.”
Mayor-Elect Justin Elicker paid a visit to the school after the incident.
Mauro-Sheridan School, a block up Fountain Street, also went into lockdown, for a half hour.
The shooter fled. Police have leads on a suspect. Dominguez said. She asked for the public to provide information to help “apprehend this individual who had no regard for the safety for the children. Regardless of the beef between these individuals, he put the entire community and the school in danger.”
The school has barred the shot caregiver from the premises. Dominguez said the police will add patrols to the school during drop-off times this week even though there is no indication of any further threat.
Indeed, a cruiser was visible in the parking lot mid-afternoon.
Chief Otoniel Reyes added that police arranged for social-service help at the school.
“We’re going to put every resource to find the person who recklessly endangered” the kids, he said.
The Archdiocese of Hartford, which operates the school, issued the following statement:
“The Catholic Academy of New Haven has a crisis plan in place which was immediately implemented when the incident began, resulting in a lock-down of the premises. This procedure is rehearsed periodically to prepare the faculty, staff, and students for emergencies. Additionally, this crisis plan is on file with the New Haven Police Department. The Archdiocese of Hartford is proud of the faculty and staff of the Catholic Academy of New Haven for executing this plan with total precision and care for the student body. Counselors are on-site to offer emotional support to students.
“We wish to thank the New Haven Police Department for their swift response, and Mayor-Elect Justin Elicker for his visit and compassion for our community. We also would like to offer our assurance to the community of the Catholic Academy of New Haven that neither the school nor its students were the target of this senseless and violent act, and that the safety of the student body is the top priority for all of our schools.”
Parents Praise School
Tony Terzi/Fox 61
Top cops at the scene.
Parents interviewed said the shooting does not change their feelings about the school, which they value.
“It could happen anywhere,” Kenicha Lopez reasoned. Lopez, who works in retail, didn’t get to look at her phone until two hours after the incident. It brought back painful memories about when she was shot in the leg three years ago.
She also shuddered when she thought about how she had dropped off her child at 7:45 a.m., “just the thought of [potentially] being in the crossfire.”
“It’s very disturbing. People just have no sympathy for no one’s child,” she said.
Another mom, who came to pick her children earlier than usual (after regular classes rather than following after-school programs), agreed that such incidents could occur anywhere, and that she sees no reason to pull her kids out of the school. The children have been at the Academy for a year, and she’s happy with the education there, she said. She especially appreciated how the school kept parents up to date with information about the incident. As she packed her two children into her car, she explained that someone “got hurt” earlier that day in the incident that caused the lockdown.
Westville Alder Darryl Brackeen was in the process of dropping his daughter off to school late at Catholic Academy when he received notification of the shooting via text message. “I turned around and took her home. The school did an excellent job of notifying us. Their response was very timely. They ensured that the safety of the kids was their number-one priority. I don’t think there’s anything else they could have done in a tragic event like this,” Brackeen said.
“It’s horrific. I immediately thought of Sandy Hook and these other incidents. Clearly this was a targeted incident. What would go through somebody’s mind that they would [shoot at someone] at a school? I don’t get what goes through the minds of people like this.”
“This crime was awful. My thoughts go to the victim and his loved ones; to all the school children and their teachers and families; and to the neighbors who live near the scene of this horrible violence,” Westville Alder Adam Marchand wrote to constituents in a Monday afternoon email message. “I am grateful for the rapid reaction from first responders and for the ongoing support from public safety and health professionals to those harmed by this traumatic event.
As a Beaver Hills resident, the first question that occurs to me is whether either of these individuals was also engaged in the shootout in our neighborhood a couple of weeks ago.