Police: 2 young kids in car as woman was shot in New Haven

Police said: Tramaine Marquese Poole is armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on Poole and/ or his whereabouts is urged to phone police. There is an active arrest warrant for Poole for the May 7th shooting, charging him with first degree assault, risk of injury, criminal possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit and unlawful discharge of a firearm. less Police said: Tramaine Marquese Poole is armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on Poole and/ or his whereabouts is urged to phone police. There is an active arrest warrant for Poole for the May 7th ... more Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Police: 2 young kids in car as woman was shot in New Haven 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — A 28-year-old woman was shot to death in her car late Thursday — with her two young children in the vehicle — and manhunt is under way for a city man in connection with the shooting and another that took place May 7, police said.

Detectives are searching for Tramaine Marquese Poole, 41, of New Haven, who at one time lived at 90 Park St.

The U.S. Marshals’ Violent Fugitive Task Force is offering a cash award of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of Poole, they said in a release late Friday.

Officers believe the woman found dead in her car, who has not been identified, was specifically targeted by the shooter.

Police said a domestic shooting assault May 7 may be related to Thursday’s slaying and the two are being investigated as such. Poole is a suspect in the May 7 shooting.

Poole is described as black, with a medium complexion and a full, not thin, face. He is about 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds. He has short, dark brown hair, brown eyes and is clean-shaven. He has tattoos on both arms. He may be wearing a disguise including a dreadlocked wig, police said.

Poole should be considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached, the U.S. Marshals said.

Police found the woman and the children when they were called to Wilmot Road at Wintergreen Avenue around 10:16 p.m. Thursday to investigate a reported shooting, according to a release. When officers arrived, they found the woman who’d been fatally shot in her car.

The victim’s two children, ages 6 and 11, were in the car with her when she was shot, police said.

“The woman’s identity is being withheld to protect the identity of the children and the integrity of the investigation.,” police spokesman Officer David Hartman said in the release. “Detectives believe the victim was targeted by the shooter.”

The crime scene is in the West Rock section of New Haven, near West Rock Ridge State Park. Part of Wilmot Road and Wintergreen Avenue was blocked off by police cars and yellow caution tape through Friday morning, rerouting buses and cars, as officers stayed on scene investigating.

Inside the blocked-off area were three cars that formed a triangle. A blue car was parked just past the red stop sign on Wintergreen Avenue. To the right was a green car on Wintergreen Avenue and the left, a red car on Wilmot Road.

Detectives from the NHPD’s Major Crimes Division and Bureau of Identification are conducting the investigation.

Alder Michelle Edmonds-Sepulveda, D-30, said her ward usually isn’t plagued by violence. It’s always upsetting when something like this happens, especially when children are involved, she said.

“My first priority is making sure the kids get all the support they can. ... My heart goes out to the children,” Edmonds-Sepulveda said.

Melissa Spear, executive director of Common Ground High School on Springside Avenue, said students arriving at school Friday morning didn’t know what was going on. She said there were adults at the bus stops who informed the students what had happened.

Spear said the students and staff were visibly shaken knowing a violent crime had taken place so close to campus, despite it being an incident that wasn’t directly connected to Common Ground.

“Clearly, the safety and security of our students and our staff and all of our programming participants are a top priority for us,” Spear said. “You never want to have something like this happen. You never want to be close to a tragedy like this.”

In the May 7 incident, officers responded to the area outside Henry Street May 7 to investigate a reported shooting. The caller, a 36-year-old New Haven woman, called police as she was being driven to the hospital. She said she’d been shot, by her husband, on Henry Street. The city’s ShotSpotter system alerted police to the gunfire. The shooter was said to have been in a 2012 gray Audi.

Poole filed a restraining order against his wife just days before the domestic incident, requesting the court order her to stay away from him. In the restraining order, Poole wrote that he was concerned for his safety and being set up, as his wife had allegedly threatened him in the past. He wrote that he wanted to protect himself, as he is “afraid of her temper,” court records show.

Court documents show the restraining order was dismissed as Poole failed to pick up the papers from the clerk’s office.

Anyone with information on Poole or his whereabouts is urged to call police or the U.S. Marshals at 1-877-926-8332. There is an active arrest warrant for Poole for the May 7 shooting, charging him with first-degree assault, risk of injury, criminal possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit and unlawful discharge of a firearm, police said.

Anyone who witnessed the Friday morning shooting or who may have information valuable to investigators is urged to call police at 203-946-6316 or Text-A-Tip to 274637 (CRIMES). Calls may be made anonymously, police said.

jessica.lerner@hearstmediact.com; @jesslerner on Twitter