Man shot outside New Haven Catholic school, bullet enters pre-K classroom

Shaunda Williams of New Haven picks up her son and daughter from the Catholic Academy of New Haven Monday following a shooting earlier that morning in front of the school. Williams’ son and daughter attend kindergarten and pre-K, respectively. less Shaunda Williams of New Haven picks up her son and daughter from the Catholic Academy of New Haven Monday following a shooting earlier that morning in front of the school. Williams’ son and daughter attend ... more Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Man shot outside New Haven Catholic school, bullet enters pre-K classroom 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — A man was injured in a shooting Monday that also sent a bullet into a classroom at a private Catholic school on the corner of Fountain Street and Alden Avenue, according to police.

Assistant Chief Renee Dominguez said a man got out of a truck just before 9 a.m. and shot at another man who was dropping off a child off at Catholic Academy; the number of bullets fired is unknown, but 10 casings were found at the scene.

Dominguez said the victim was hit “several” times.

One bullet went into a classroom with 11 students, but no one inside the classroom was hit and there were no children outside the school at the time, Dominguez said. A teacher in the classroom heard the gunshots and evacuated the room and called the principal to initiate a lockdown.

Assistant Chief Karl Jacobson said the man’s injuries are non-life-threatening. Police said the man was the target of the shooting.

Mayor-elect Justin Elicker called the shooting, two days after the 7th anniversary of the killing of 20 first-graders and 6 staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School, “very concerning.”

He said the immediate top priority is to find the shooter “and hold that person accountable.” Elicker said police told him they have some leads in the incident. The mayor-elect said, longer term, he wants to boost the number of police officers on the force, which dropped over the past year as contract talks stalled and personnel left for other departments or retired.

Elicker said he stopped by the school and said the administration reported that “they had good support in the immediate aftermath of the incident.” Personnel from the Yale Child Study Center also visited.

Looking forward, Elicker said he wants to make sure young people have the after-school and summer programs they need to engage in positive activities and not be attracted to situations that devolve to gun violence.

The school is the former St. Aedan - St. Brendan Catholic School. A woman who answered the phone at the school Monday declined to comment.

David Elliott, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Hartford, said, “They had counselors on site to offer support for the students today. They had a plan prepared … it was pretty impressive,” and it was implemented as soon as the shots were fired.

Jacobson said police are not releasing the victim’s name “for his own safety,” but said he is known by police for gang activity, recently was acquitted of a murder charge and is himself a suspect in “multiple shootings.”. The victim was released from prison last month, Jacobson said, where he served time for a robbery conviction.

He said the suspect is believed to be between 5 feet, 8 inches and 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds. The suspect wore a mask below his eyes, he said.

In a statement, the Archdiocese said that, of the ten shots fired, “seven hit the school building, with one bullet entering a pre-kindergarten classroom.”

“No students were harmed. The target of the shooting, an adult male who was walking a child to the school, sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound,” the statement said.

“The Catholic Academy of New Haven has a crisis plan in place which was immediately implemented when the incident began, resulting in a lock-down of the premises,” the statement said. “This procedure is rehearsed periodically to prepare the faculty, staff, and students for emergencies. Additionally, this crisis plan is on file with the New Haven Police Department.

“The Archdiocese of Hartford is proud of the faculty and staff of the Catholic Academy of New Haven for executing this plan with total precision and care for the student body.”

“We wish to thank the New Haven Police Department for their swift response, and Mayor-Elect Justin Elicker for his visit and compassion for our community,” the statement said. “We also would like to offer our assurance to the community of the Catholic Academy of New Haven that neither the school nor its students were the target of this senseless and violent act, and that the safety of the student body is the top priority for all of our schools.”

Alder Adam Marchand, D-25, whose ward includes the school, said this type of incident is “every parent’s nightmare.” He agreed with Elicker that the Police Department needs to be built up, but of equal concern is getting inside those “circles of violence,” where issues are settled with guns.

He was happy that the response to the shooting on the part of the Police Department was “immediate.” He said the priority of the Board of Alders since shootings hit a high in 2011, has been to work to redirect youth and that will continue. He can only imagine the stress on parents, staff and the children from this incident, but he was happy that the Yale Child Study Center responded.

Public school officials also imposed a half-hour lockdown at the nearby Mauro-Sheridan Interdistrict Magnet School Monday morning after security officials learned of the shooting.

New Haven Public Schools COO Mike Pinto said the school was locked down from around 9 to 9:30 a.m. A number of school buses that had not yet arrived at the school were halted before arriving until the lockdown was lifted.

Dominguez said there will be a police presence for student arrival and dismissal from school for the rest of the week. She said no one else was in the area of the shooting.

The district has made partnerships with citywide emergency response officials a priority following nationwide concerns about school safety; last spring, school and emergency response officials did a three-hour drill to review the proper protocols in case of a school shooter.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com mary. Mary O’Leary and Ed Stannard contributed to this story.