by Thomas Breen The New Haven independent
The closed-off block between Sperry and Orchard.
(Updated) Police are looking for three men who were involved in a fight-turned-shooting that left a 26-year-old dead and a 32-year-old injured on Dickerman Street Monday afternoon.
A dozen detectives, officers, police supervisors, and other law enforcement personnel were still on scene at around 3:40 p.m. as they closed the block between Sperry and Orchard to car traffic.
The police department first posted on the social media site X at 2:20 p.m. about the double shooting.
At 2:58 p.m., they posted again, stating that one of the victims had died and that this was now a homicide investigation.
And at 3:20 p.m., police posted on X for a third time, stating that the man who died was 26 years old, and that the second victim — “tentatively identified as a 32 year old male” — was in surgery.
At around 3:40 p.m., Police Chief Karl Jacobson updated reporters on scene with the latest.
He said that, at around 2:13 p.m., police received 911 calls and ShotSpotter alerts about multiple shots fired on the Dickerman block.
Upon arrival, officers found two victims, “both of them in very bad condition.”
Jacobson confirmed that the 26-year-old victim had died. He said the second victim was still in “very, very critical condition.”
There appears to have been “some kind of dispute on the street where there were other males involved,” Jacobson said. He said that “three other males” came up to and shot at the two men — one of whom died, one of whom is still seriously injured. “There was a dispute prior to that,” Jacobson said about what preceded the shooting. “Some kind of argument, fight.”
Jacobson said he’s not sure if the two men who were shot at also fired any shots. He said he’s also not sure about the number of guns used in the shooting, as police were still collecting evidence. “I believe at least two different shell casings” were found on scene, he said.
Jacobson declined to identify the victims right now as the investigation continues. He confirmed that police are looking for three male suspects.
Mayor Justin Elicker was also on scene Monday, talking to neighbors in the aftermath of the fatal shooting.
One neighbor, who identified himself only as John Doe, said he was talking with a friend in the Burger King parking lot off of Whalley when he heard “a bunch of shots,” maybe as many as 10. He said he walked over to Dickerman and saw cops trying to resuscitate a man who was bleeding and on the ground.
Monday’s homicide is the city’s 11th of the year so far. It’s also New Haven’s third shooting death in eight days, and comes nearly two weeks after the mayor and police chief held a press conference detailing how violent crime — in particular confirmed shots fired and non-fatal shooting injuries — have declined from their pandemic-era peak.
Jacobson said that this shooting does not appear to be connected to last week’s homicides.
Looking west on Dickerman from Sperry.