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A Google Map showing Anson Street in Derby in the center.
DERBY — Shots again rang out in west Derby Thursday night, this time on Anson Street.
It’s the fourth incident this month.
Police said a vehicle was shot at as it traveled on Anson Street at about 9:30 p.m.. Multiple shots were fired. The driver’s side door was hit several times.
No injuries were reported. A man and a woman were in the car when it was shot at.
Police said the vehicle was recognized and targeted by a person from the sidewalk.
Lt. Justin Stanko said this incident is tied to groups of people who have been shooting at each other in Ansonia and Derby since roughly 2017.
He said police are having trouble getting people to provide information about the crimes.
Police conducted interviews Thursday and are reviewing camera footage. There is no description of the suspected shooter at this point.
Anyone with information can call the police at 203 – 735-7811. Callers can remain anonymous.
“There are suspects. We believe this shooting is related to other shootings and are retaliatory,” Stanko said.
On Tuesday night (Sept. 15) police received several calls about shots fired on E. Ninth Street near Seymour Avenue.
Police believe two people shot at each other, but no injuries were reported. Three parked vehicles on the street were hit.
Neighbors reported seeing a man fleeing the scene, and a vehicle was spotted leaving the area and getting on Route 8 south.
On Sunday (Sept. 13), shots were fired near the intersection of Cottage and Hawkins streets, which is close to E. Ninth Street.
The Sept. 13, Sept. 15 and Sept. 17 gun play follows a shooting reported 1 a.m. Sept. 1. that is believed to have happened near the city’s new athletic complex on Chatfield Street.
In the Sept. 1 incident, a 17-year-old Derby resident was grazed by bullets fired from a moving vehicle.
One of the bullets grazed the young man’s head. The victim walked about a half-mile to a gas station on Seymour Avenue, where he flagged down a patrol car. The officer picked the teen up and drove him to Griffin Hospital.
The Sept. 1 shooting victim’s injuries were minor. He was out of the hospital in about nine hours.
At this point police believe the Sept. 1, Sept. 13, Sept. 14, and Sept. 17 incidents are connected, but the cases are tough to work.
“Derby police has a lot of third-hand information and know that these recent shootings are all connected. But those actually involved, victims and suspects, refuse to speak with the police,” Stanko said. “Community members and people associated with those involved are trying their best to gather information to stop the violence before an innocent person becomes a victim. However, no one with first hand information is coming forward.”
However, Stanko said there have been a series of similar shootings in Ansonia and Derby that go back to a 2017 shooting that took the life of a 21-year-old man on Anson Street in Derby. The crime remains unsolved.
Police characterized the violence as a series of “escalating beefs” between groups of people. There are arrest warrants being prepared in connection to some of those past shootings, police said.
Stanko urged witnesses or people with information to talk to police. Detectives need the public’s help, he said.
“Eventually someone is going to get killed, and it could be an innocent bystander,” Stanko said.
Derby Mayor Rich Dziekan said he is in constant contact with residents from the Anson/Hawthorne/Hawkins area of west Derby.
“They’re nervous about what’s going on, and they’re scared. I get that,” said Dziekan, a retired Hamden police officer. He stressed people can talk to the police anonymously.
Dziekan also said there is a feeling of lawlessness in the country right now. Police are nervous to do their jobs, and criminals are emboldened to act.
“There are major issues at play right now. Poverty, violence, a breakdown of families. I wish I had an easy answer, but I don’t,” the mayor said.
Dziekan was especially critical of the state for what Dziekan said was relaxing criminal penalties against youthful offenders. Those policies are contributing to a rash of property crimes happening in Derby, where local social media has been full of video and still photo images of people rummaging through cars looking for items to steal. Juveniles have been arrested for stealing cars, and some have extensive criminal histories, the mayor said.
