Arrest made in October drive-by shooting in Norwich
New London woman charged as an accessory to a criminal attempt to commit first-degree assault
Norwich — Police on Friday arrested an 18-year-old New London woman for her alleged role in gunshots being fired through a bedroom window in Norwich on Oct. 27, an incident authorities say stemmed from a gang dispute at Foxwoods Casino earlier that evening. No one was injured in the incident. A 19-year-old man was alone in his Prospect Street home and asleep in his bed about 4 a.m. on Oct. 27, when a bullet struck his bedroom window, Norwich police Detective Kevin Wilbur said in an arrest warrant affidavit.
The victim called his mother, who was out of town at the time of the shooting but returned home about 4:30 p.m. that day. The affidavit said she told police one bullet went through the bedroom window and lodged into the ceiling/attic, and a second bullet hit the home to the right of the mailbox near the front door.
Brianna Goins of 172 Hawthorne Drive, Apt. 22D, has been charged as an accessory to a criminal attempt to commit first-degree assault.
Goins told police that she was driving while a young man shot at the home from the passenger seat, the affidavit said. Police are not identifying him because he is under the age of 18. Another young man, who was 17 at the time, and Goins’ boyfriend, Sakye Reels, were in the back seat.
She said the gun jammed and the man in the passenger seat cleared it before firing into the house, police said.
Goins told police she met both juvenile suspects in school in New London and has known them for the last five years, the affidavit said. She said that earlier the night of Oct. 27, at Grand Pequot Towers, the 19-year-old victim had “jumped” the man who went on to shoot through his window.
Police interviewed Goins on Oct. 29 and Nov. 1, the affidavit said. On Oct. 27, they spoke with the victim’s mother and then with a neighbor, who said he saw a silver BMW going north on Prospect Street after he heard two gunshots about 4 a.m. Footage from police surveillance cameras confirmed his account.
The neighbor said he heard another gunshot about a halfhour later, and the BMW was going south.
The next day, the victim told police he and his cousin were leaving a party at Foxwoods early the morning of Oct. 27 when they were met by 10 to 15 people from New London’s “B Block” gang, the affidavit said. The victim said he and his cousin got into a physical altercation with them, identifying one of the people as Reels.
He told police he knew Reels dates a woman he knows as Bri or Brianna, and that she drives a silver BMW or white Acura.
After getting a statement from the person who picked up the suspects during a switch of cars that night, police took evidence from the BMW, the affidavit said. A bullet found on the passenger-side floor was consistent with Goins’ description of events.