Stamford teen wounded in drive-by shooting

STAMFORD — The violent feud between rival groups of West Side residents extended beyond the neighborhood’s borders over the weekend.

Stamford police were examining a bullet-riddled Jeep Liberty on Tuesday after a 14-year-old boy was wounded in a drive-by shooting Saturday night on Strawberry Hill Avenue near the Tully Health Center on the outskirts of downtown. The boy, who was shot in the leg and grazed in the chest by another bullet, has refused to help the police investigation.

Sgt. Paul Guzda, who is leading the investigation, said the incident appears to be “more of the same.”

“The city has been inundated with these types of incidents,” he said.

Guzda said the shooting stems from the ongoing dispute between Connecticut Avenue and Spruce Street residents on the West Side, where most of the city’s 30 reported shots fired incidents have occurred since March.

Guzda said the boy was in a car traveling southbound on Strawberry Hill Avenue, just north of Rock Spring Road, when he was shot about 10:15 p.m. Saturday. Police found eight shell casings, one of which was fired from a different gun, Guzda said.

Guzda said the shooting appears to have been sparked by a disturbance earlier that night at a baby shower at the Belltown Fire Department catering hall on nearby Dorlen Road.

Guzda said the victim admitted being at the catering hall, but refused to provide more information. Hospital security footage showed the victim was dropped off by someone driving the Jeep, Guzda said. Police recovered the SUV on Tuesday.

The catering hall, which holds 100 people and has its own commercial kitchen and wet bar, is rented out most weekends, Belltown Assistant Chief Nick Didelot said.

Didelot said firefighters called police when the fight started. Didelot said it was a rare disturbance at the hall and firefighters provided surveillance video to police.

Guzda said the footage showed some “rumblings” in the crowd, but no one was seen throwing a punch. Guzda said it appeared a few uninvited guests started trouble at the shower. Guzda said some of those at the baby shower have close ties to Connecticut Avenue.

jnickerson@scni.com;