Somebody shot and killed 30-year-old West Havener Otis Powell in the early hours of Thanksgiving morning as clubgoers were leaving for the night from Sargent Drive’s Terminal 110.
That’s according to a pair of email press releases sent out by city police spokesperson Sgt. Cherelle Carr last Thursday.
Carr wrote that, at around 12:51 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 23, city police officers “were on preventive patrol” in the area of the Terminal 110 night club at 240 Sargent Dr.
“As patrons were exiting the establishment, officers reported hearing gunfire,” the press release continues. “Shortly thereafter, an officer was approached by a male who reported he was shot. Dispatch was informed of the situation, and the New Haven Fire Department and American Medical Response emergency units were summoned to the scene.”
The victim, later identified as Powell, was transported by ambulance to Yale New Haven Hospital, “where he succumbed to his injuries during the early morning hours.”
“Detectives from the Major Crimes Unit and Bureau of Identification responded to the scene to gather evidence, interview witnesses, and search for surveillance footage. Shotspotter was not activated in the area mentioned, ballistic evidence was found on scene.”
Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed this incident or who may have information valuable to investigators to call detectives at 203 – 946-6304 or through the department’s anonymous tip-line at 866 – 888-TIPS (8477).
Powell’s shooting death marks the city’s 22nd homicide of the year so far, and comes just a few days after a 19-year-old New Havener named Jovani Ortiz died from injuries he sustained after getting shot on Downes Street in the Hill.
Condolences to this man and his family.
Big picture, it looks like murders in New Haven have more than doubled vs this time last year.
So let's ask the questions we don't ask enough: Who profited from this man's death? Who manufactured the gun? Who sold it on the street? And who were the middlemen who knew or should have known that the gun was going to end up (I can only assume) on the black market?
There IS a way to achieve a society where petty arguments don't constantly turn into shootings. So many other countries have figured it out. Is America really so exceptional(ly awful) that we can't do the same?