Police on scene when 5 people were shot at Hamden house party

HAMDEN — Town police officers had just arrived at the scene of a house party with about 500 guests Friday night when gunfire rang out and five people were shot.

Investigators worked throughout the late hours of Friday evening to piece together what happened.

Around 8:45 p.m., police responded to a Choate Avenue home for a report of a large group, according to Police Capt. Ronald Smith during a press conference around 11 p.m. He said gunfire erupted shortly after police arrived.

“While we had three or four officers on scene, someone began to shoot into the crowd,” Smith said.

He said the officers, who were about 30 to 50 feet away from the shooting, were not fired upon and did not return fire. He said the shooting did not appear to be the result of the police pressence.

Smith estimated about 500 people were at the party. He said the homeowners, party guests and neighbors have been cooperative with the police investigation.

“From what I gathered, it was total chaos,” Smith said, describing the scene when the shots rang out.

Mayor Curt Leng said the shooting was in the area of Choate Avenue and Exeter Street.

“Hamden Public Safety & our surrounding community partners are going door to door,” Leng wrote in a post on Twitter around 10 p.m. “Neighborhood still shut down and police are going door to door: please cooperate and allow our men and women to do their jobs and to make sure you are all staying safe.”

Police blocked off streets in the area of the shooting and put houses in the area on lockdown while units investigated. Around 11 p.m., Smith said the lockdown had since been lifted.

Initially, there were reports of three victims shot and...

from News https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Police-on-scene-when-5-people-were-shot-at-Hamden-14060485.php