HAMDEN, Conn. — Police are investigating two shootings, which occurred in a span of 30 minutes Saturday night, in the south end of Hamden about a mile apart. It remains unclear if they are connected.
Residents, who live near Butler St. and Goodrich St., said they are saddened but not surprised to learn their neighbor was hit by a bullet that pierced an exterior wall of a home and struck a 37-year-old woman in the shoulder as she watched television.
Police do not believe she was the intended target. The victim's boyfriend told FOX61 off camera she remained in a local hospital emergency room as of Monday morning.
"No one is safe in this area," said David Sims, a local resident. "A stray bullet through the wall through your window like where is an example it could happen to anyone at any time."
Despite the increased violence in the neighborhood, Mr. Sims picks up trash around the neighborhood every day, saying he has too much pride to leave.
"I mean I try to talk to people, especially young ones, and tell them that you know they need to think about them as their brother rather than as an enemy," Sims said.
Hamden police were back in the neighborhood collecting more evidence in the form of another dozen bullet casings on Monday.
"I have a bullet hole in my own home right now," said a nearby resident, who identified herself as Saidah.
Saidah noted she is moving because of the increase in shootings
"People over here they have no heart. They have no empathy. They have no sympathy for each other," she said. "My neighbor, he came out of the house (recently), he got shot."
At the same time, the woman was shot while sitting in her living room, right across the street is a green four-family apartment house that was also hit by gunshots right near where a family with children live upstairs.
"We can't do anything about it or with it," Simms, who's lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, said. "It's up to the people who are perpetrating the crimes to stop themselves."
A half an hour after the Butler St. shooting a man was left critically wounded in a neighborhood a mile away on Warner Street after he was shot multiple times.
Police have not updated the condition of either of the shooting victims.
Tony Terzi is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tterzi@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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