West Haven man charged with attempted murder

BRIDGEPORT — Standing over his bleeding exgirlfriend, a West Haven man ordered her to shut up as she pleaded with him to spare her life, police said.

“After she was struck with a bullet, she started screaming and he is alleged to have yelled ‘ shut up’ — I would consider that an additional aggravating factor,” Superior Court Judge Kevin Russo said in ordering Nathan Collins held in lieu of $ 750,000 bond on Friday.

Collins, 29, was charged with attempted murder, first- degree assault, firstdegree reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a pistol and carrying a pistol without a permit.

Police said Collins had previously been served with a protective order telling him to stay away from the victim.

During Collins’ arraignment hearing in state Superior Court, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Sanangelo told the judge that the bullet that struck the victim is lodged in her spine and cannot be removed safely.

“She has no feeling in her arm any more at all,” the prosecutor said. “He was lying in wait for her, shot her and then took off.”

According to West Haven police, on June 8, police responded to a parking lot on Kenneth Street for a shooting.

Police said the victim, the mother of four young children, had been walking to her car in the parking lot to go to work when Collins jumped out of another car and confronted her with a gun.

Witnesses recounted hearing the victim beg for her life as Collins shot her, police said.