Police ID teen killed in shooting

HAMDEN — Police have identified the teen killed in a deadly shooting this week as 15year-old Elijah Gomez.

Officers responded to the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail around 2:30 p.m. Monday for a report of shots fired. There, they tried unsuccessfully to perform life-saving resuscitation efforts on the victim, whom they later identified as Gomez.

Gomez was a freshman at Hamden High School and member of the football team, according to Leonard Jahad, executive director of the Connecticut Violence Intervention

Program, whose street outreach team provides support to communities following violent tragedy.

“This is a devastating loss to Hamden and our schools. Tragedies of this magnitude shake us to the core as individuals and as a community,” Mayor Lauren Garrett said in a statement Tuesday evening. “The loss of a life of a child is impossible to make sense of under any circumstances but the violent nature of this incident leaves us feeling vulnerable, powerless, and grasping for answers.”

Superintendent of Schools Jody Goeler told families Monday that a student had died, but did not mention the shooting.

Jahad was at the high school Tuesday morning, he said, where he visited each of Gomez's classes with Principal Nadine Gannon and staff from Clifford Beers, a local children's mental health clinic.

“The kids had a tough time today,” Jahad said.

Part of CTVIP's program involves outreach to at-risk youth. When a shooting occurs, Jahad's team often finds that they already know the victim, who previously may have been identified as a teen at risk of perpetrating or being victim to violence.

That was not the case with Gomez, who “wasn't on our radar at all,” according to Jahad. He said he had been told Gomez played on the high school football team and got good grades.

Gomez has no arrest or juvenile probation history, Jahad said.

He hoped police can wrap up the case quickly.

Garrett also visited the school Tuesday, where she spoke with Gomez's classmates, according to her release. She also delivered personal condolences to his family, the release said.

The mayor is “in close communication with our Police Department as they continue to investigate,” it said.

“I have their full assurance they will not stop until the parties responsible are apprehended, and they will receive the full support of my office,” Garrett said. “The Police Department is also bolstering patrols to increase security along the canal line.”

Officers were following leads in the area of Gorham Avenue Tuesday afternoon. Police Detective Sean Dolan confirmed investigators were on scene in connection with Monday's shooting.

About five officers were in the front yard of a home at around 1:15 p.m. A witness associated with the Hamden Crime Watchers Facebook page who stood across the street reported seeing police tow a car near the residence.

He provided pictures corroborating his account and also said he saw police escort two men into law enforcement vehicles. He and another bystander said they had seen members of a SWAT team on site.

Police had not made any arrests as of 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to Dolan.