Lt. Reddish (center.)
Police swarmed to Lincoln-Bassett School in Newhallville and closed off streets after shots were fired there Thursday evening.
Police recovered a revolver but made no arrests. No one was hit by the gunfire.
After the incident, 20 – 25 cop cars were soon at the scene. Officers closed off traffic in the area of Shelton Avenue and Ivy and Butler streets.
Lt. Thaddeus Reddish, Newhallville’s top cop, described how the chain of events started:
123 Hazel St.
He happened to be at Division Street and Shelton Avenue around 6:00 p.m. when he heard gunshots a few blocks away on Hazel. He rushed over to 123 Hazel St.
He found a largely deserted scene, and a bike in the road. Cops were told the shots were fired in the backyard, which abuts the playground at Lincoln-Bassett.
Reddish found a witness who described a car leaving the scene. Reddish recognized the car by the description. Police spokesman Officer Joe Avery later said it was possibly a white Pontiac or Buick.
He and another officer went to the nearby home of the owner of the car, while Officers Curtis Miller and Kyle Malloy remained at the scene.
When Reddish arrived at that house, a couple blocks away, he got a phone call from an officer still at the scene — and he heard more gunshots through the phone.
“They’re shooting again! They’re shooting again!” the officer on the phone reported.
The officers believed they were being shot at, Avery later said.
Reddish rushed back. He saw people running in all directions. Police detained people leaving the scene, but made no arrests.
Avery said a caller reported seeing five or six males running from the park and basketball court by the school.
By 7:40 p.m., as cops were in the early stages of their investigation, it was unclear who was shooting at whom, how many people were involved, or if the shooters were aiming at cops.
Reddish confirmed that no one appeared to have been hit in the gunfire. Police were questioning people in the area. Bitang, a police canine, led cops into nearby backyards, where an officer recovered the revolver.
According to an eyewitness, someone in a black car pulled up to the school playground around 6:45 p.m. and fired at least six shots. Loud shots. Another person on the scene claimed to have heard seven or eight shots.
“It had to be a four-five or a four-four,” said the witness, referring to the caliber of the gun. She declined to give her name.
The driver then drove away. The witness said no one was hit by the bullets.
Another woman, who said she lives down the street, remarked on the number of cops on the scene. “You know it have to be something fierce,” she said. “Is anybody left at the police station?”
She said it’s time to put up the crime cameras as suggested by Newhallville Alderman Charles Blango.
I didn't even think that we had 20-25 cop cars in New Haven! We've got to stop this endless gun violence! 6:45 p.m. shooting in a playground? This is unacceptable, summer is around the corner and it's only going to get worse, more kids playing outdoors in the evening hours etc... Help!!