Guns in Farnum Court, a troubled housing project, figure in two separate shootings in New Haven over the weekend.
"People who live in these neighborhoods have to step up to the plate and they have to start contacting us, giving information about who's doing this and where they're hiding their weapons," said Assistant Police Chief Pete Reichard.
Saturday night, Police acting on just that kind of information found a .357 Magnum bagged in a toilet tank in Farnum Court, and arrested convicted felon Marques Moore on weapons charges.
Reichard said Moore may have been in one of the vehicles involved in a shootout on Grand Avenue near Quinnipiac Avenue the night before. An eleven-month-old baby boy riding in his car seat in one of the offending vehicles was grazed by a bullet. It went into his car seat after grazing his right temple.
Earlier Saturday, an eight-year-old girl playing in Farnum Court was wounded in the buttocks when a bullet ricocheted off a large metal utility box.
"You never know if you're gonna get shot," said Mary Jane Torrez, who lives there. "Can you imagine? You send your kid or a child to a party and get shot? Not a way to live."
"We've always had a problem with guns," said Clarence Dixon, who also lives at Farnum Court. "Get 'em off the street!"
Police say the children are recovering from their wounds.
"They're precious, innocent victims who did nothing wrong in their lives to deserve this taking place," said Reichard. "It's the adults around them that cause the chaos and disorder."
Police have a suspect in mind in the shooting of the girl. Reichard said during a party a man confronted his ex-girlfriend, leveled a gun at her, and fired two rounds. One of them hit the girl. The man then fired five more rounds into the air, Reichard said, before he fled from Farnum Court on foot.
