Rewards offered in shootings of children

NEW HAVEN — The State’s Attorney’s Office for New Haven is offering $50,000 rewards for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for shooting two children in the city earlier this year, according to the New Haven Police Department.

A 9yearold was shot on Foote Street April 30 as he and his family searched for his stolen basketball, Capt. Anthony Duff said previously.

Duff said in the days after the shooting that investigators believe the boy was playing basketball with other boys in a park prior to the shooting.

One of them took his ball; he and his father began to walk around their Dixwell neighborhood trying to get it back.

The mother picked them up and they began to drive around. Then, on Foote Street, “several shots were fired at the family’s vehicle.” The boy was wounded in the pelvis. He was released from the hospital days later.

An 8yearold was shot on Thompson Street June 28, soon after five people were wounded at a house party in Hamden.

Police are continuing to seek information about a car of interest in the shooting, Sgt. Shayna Kendall said. The department released photos of the vehicle after the incident.

In the days after the shooting, the boy’s mother said she had put him to bed moments before the shooting, then heard the gunshots. Her son had come to her, crying, and she wept as she tried to pick him up.

She said she was praying for police to catch whoever had shot her son.

In a release, Kendall noted the department’s “tremendous appreciation” for the rewards and asked the public to share any information they might have about the incidents.

“Please call the New Haven Police Department Investigative Services Division at 2039466304, anonymous tip line at 2039466296, text a tip by texting “NHPD plus your message” to 274637(CRIMES) or email at ecic@newhavenct.gov,” Kendall said.