2 Separate Shootings Investigated In Bridgeport, 1 Victim Critically Injured: Police

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Bridgeport police are investigating two separate shootings Wednesday afternoon that left a 20-year-old man critically injured and a 17-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to his arm.

The first shooting was reported around 1:19 p.m. near Reservoir and Alba avenues in the city's North End, where officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation indicating numerous rounds had been fired. ShotSpotter is a gunshot detection system.

Officers found a 20-year-old man on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body. He was taken by ambulance to St. Vincent's Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition and underwent emergency surgery.

Police believe the man was targeted in a drive-by shooting that may have involved a vehicle carjacked in Bridgeport earlier that day.

Detectives with the department's Major Crimes Unit were processing the scene Wednesday afternoon.

Bridgeport police learned of the second shooting at about 4 p.m., when a 17-year-old boy arrived at Bridgeport Hospital with a gunshot wound to his left arm. He was listed in stable condition.

Minutes before the teenager arrived at the hospital, police received calls reporting a male bleeding and screaming while driving a vehicle near Success Avenue on the city's East Side.

Detectives were working to determine whether the teenager was the person described by callers. Officers also searched for a possible crime scene near Success Avenue and Granfield Avenue.

No arrests have been made in either shooting, and police said they have no reason to believe the incidents are connected.

Wednesday's shooting near Reservoir Avenue was the second shooting in the area within a week.

Shortly before midnight Friday, officers found a 30-year-old Bridgeport man inside a vehicle near Reservoir Avenue and Edwards Street with multiple gunshot wounds to his wrist and thigh.

The man was bleeding heavily when officers arrived. Police applied a tourniquet to his thigh, an action that may have saved his life, authorities said.

According to police, the vehicle in which the man was found had been involved in a significant drug arrest by the department in late August.

No arrests have been made in connection with Friday's shooting.

"The Patrol Division, the Detective Bureau, and the Department's Task Forces will be enhancing their efforts in the North End following the shootings," said Bridgeport Police Det. Jeffrey Holtz in a statement.

All three shootings are being investigated by the Detective Bureau's Non-Fatal Shooting Task Force.

Anyone with information about the shootings is asked to contact Det. Timothy Leonard at 203-581-5253 or Det. Albert Palatiello at 203-581-5226.