The 11-year-old boy was coming out of Moe’s Market in the Dixwell section of New Haven just before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when he became an innocent victim of gunfire, police said.
He was shot in the left arm and taken to a nearby hospital. He is expected to be OK, but the shooting has angered the police department and New Haven Police have been out in full-force to investigate the shooting.
"We believe the incident stemmed from an argument or a dispute down the street, and the 11-year-old was an innocent bystander. He was not with anyone who was an intended target. He just happened to be in the area at the time," New Haven Assistant Police Chief Thomas Wheeler said.
Officers canvassed the area for most of the night, trying to talk to neighbors to see if anyone saw what happened.
Police need people to come forward to help clean up the streets.
"It’s really an outrage today when you see an 11-year-old that can’t walk the streets, or anybody as a matter of fact that can’t walk the streets today," said Wheeler.
Some neighbors say it’s about time the community gets involved and breaks its "no snitching" policy.
"That’s a tragedy. They just need to stop all the violence," Danny Harper, a New Haven resident, said. "It’s killing our own generations, black on black, and it’s not helping anybody; nobody is prospering from this, you know what I’m saying? It’s no good for nobody. I have nephews and nieces, thank God it wasn’t one of my nephews or nieces, you know."
