Valley Independent Sentinel

UPDATE: Woman Shot To Death At Ansonia Apartment Complex

by Jodie Mozdzer and Eugene Driscoll | Jul 15, 2009 8:56 am

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Posted to: Ansonia

Ansonia —

A 39-year-old woman was fatally shot outside of the Riverside Apartment complex on Olson Drive Wednesday after a man opened fire into a crowd of people.

It was the second murder in that neighborhood in less than a month.

Police are searching for a suspect. They weren’t sure if the shooter knew the victim, identified Wednesday morning as 39-year-old Bernice McFadden.

The shooting happened at about 12:25 a.m., Lt. Andrew Cota said.

According to police, about six to 12 people were sitting in a courtyard in the complex when a man approached.

“There was an unknown male, a black male, who walked into the courtyard and was walking around as if he was looking for someone,” Cota said.

The suspect started to walk toward the Maple Street side of the complex, as if to leave.

“He turned around. We’re being told he fired one round into the air and then fired multiple shots toward the group of people in the courtyard,” Cota said.

Police believe four shots were fired.

Two police officers on the other side of the complex heard the gunshots.

“In the middle courtyard they found a female lying on the ground, bleeding from her chest,” Cota said. “They began to render first aid and called for an ambulance.”

She was pronounced dead at Griffin Hospital.

The suspect fled in a silver or gray mid-sized sedan, possibly a Chrysler. He was wearing a shite shirt, white hat and blue jeans, police said.

Police were conducting interviews all day Wednesday in an effort to establish what happened.

The last homicide occurred on June 21 during a father’s day picnic.

Jennifer Lewis, 22, was stabbed to death on the balcony of one of the apartments in the 136-153 building.

Police arrested Tiffany Perry, 26, shortly after the incident.

Perry’s arraignment in Derby Superior Court June 23 was followed by a shouting match between her friends and relatives and those of Lewis.

The tension was worse outside the courthouse, where the two sides yelled at and threatened each other.

However, police said Wednesday it was too early in the investigation to say whether the two crimes are connected.

“It’s certainly something to look at, but there’s nothing to substantiate a connection at this point,” Chief Kevin Hale said.

Hale and Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe urged anyone with information about the shooting to call police at (203) 735-1885.

Calls will be kept confidential.

Della Volpe issued a statement Wednesday morning urging cooperation and expressing condolences to the victim’s family and friends.

The killings have shaken up residents, who said McFadden appeared to “be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Some residents are talking about starting a neighborhood watch program.

Others are talking about moving.

“It seemed like it was a pattern. Every three years someone would get killed,” said tenant association president Malika Mosley about the frequency of serious crime in the neighborhood. “I’ve lived here six years. It went from every three years to every month. Me and my son are saying, should we move back to New York?”

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