Several Overnight Shootings Across City Left 1 Dead, 2 Injured: Police

NEW HAVEN, CT — Gunfire erupted across the city overnight Tuesday, leaving two injured in shootings on Chapel Street and another on Woosley Avenue, and a 29-year-old man was gunned down and killed on Winthrop Avenue, police said.

According to police spokesperson Capt. Rose Dell, the first shooting was reported at 9:30 p.m. Cops arrived and found a crime scene on Woolsley at the side entrance of a house. Moments later, a gunshot victim was dropped off at Yale-New Haven Hospital on York Street with non-life-threatening injuries, Dell said. The victim, who had been shot by an occupant of another vehicle, recounted a heated exchange that escalated into violence, police said. Dell said detectives gathered evidence, interviewed witnesses, and searched for surveillance footage with a ired cartridge casing found across the street from the house.

At 10:45 pm, while officers were at Yale-New Haven Hospital for an unrelated incident, a second gunshot victim walked into the hospital, Dell said. The victim told cops he had been "lured" to the area of Chapel Street and Ella T. Grasso Boulevard by a person he had met online. Once there, an unidentified male attempted to rob him, Dell said. No additional information or evidence could be found at the location, and there were no witnesses or callers. The victim's vehicle was not located. Subsequently, a check with the Bridgeport Police Department revealed another shooting in their city at approximately 9:45 p.m. The connection between the two incidents remains unclear at this time.

Then, at around 1:3o a.m., cops got a ShotSpotter activation that five rounds had been fired on Winthrop Avenue, Dell said. Soon after, multiple 911 calls reported a person shot in the 400 block of Winthrop, she said. Officers found Leron Vaughn, 29, of New Haven, suffering from a gunshot wound behind a white Infinity, police said. Despite immediate medical attention, Vaughn succumbed to his injuries at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Dell said.

According to investigators, witnesses reported seeing "two suspicious individuals fleeing the scene, running northbound on Winthrop Avenue." Dell said a K9 search was conducted, but it yielded no significant leads. Detectives are currently exploring footage from nearby businesses that may have captured the incident.

Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed these incidents or who may have
information valuable to investigators to call detectives at 203-946-6304 or through the
department’s anonymous tip-line at 866-888-TIPS (8477).