Man Interferes With Shooting Search Warrant: Hamden PD

HAMDEN, CT — A West Haven man was arrested after police say he interfered with a search warrant authorities were executing in connection to the June 28 shootings in Hamden that left five people injured.

Members of the Hamden Police Department, West Haven Police Department and the U.S. Marshal Service Violent Fugitive Task Force executed a search-and-seizure warrant on July 24 at the residence of Shakur Ford in the 100 block of Washington Avenue in West Haven, according to Capt. Ronald Smith.

Smith said Ford fled the home when authorities arrived and was arrested after a foot chase and taken to Hamden Police Headquarters.

Ford, 21, was charged with interfering with a search warrant. He was detained on a $5,000 and is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on Aug. 7.

Five people were injured in a shooting on Choate Avenue on June 28, the night of the town’s annual fireworks display. Prior to the shooting, at 7:20 p.m., Hamden Police were called to an Exeter Road home concerning a trespassing complaint. The homeowner told police that several people were walking on her front lawn, police said at the time. Police had said there were reports of people drunkenly passed out on lawns.

An officer saw numerous motor vehicles parked in the area and there was a large party in the 900 block of Choate Avenue. The officer concluded that while there were a large number of guests, "the music was not unreasonably loud," police said. There were more than 500 people at the party, according to police.

Police stressed that the homeowner and guests were extremely cooperative. The officer told the homeowner to ask the guests to leave by 10 p.m. and the homeowner offered to send guests home by 9 p.m. The shooting broke out while police were on the scene around 8:45 p.m.

Police said the suspect was an attendee at the party and was described as a light-skinned black male in his early 20s with a thin build, "pock-marked face," a small amount of hair on chin, wearing a black hat (backwards), T-shirt and blue jeans.