There were two small children in the Olson Drive apartment when Jamar Perry allegedly pulled a gun from his waistband Monday and fired a shot into a man’s leg.
The children’s mother fetched the bullet casing off the floor and put it on a high chair for safekeeping.
Those details were part of the five-page arrest warrant for Perry released after his arraignment Friday afternoon.
Perry, 28, of New Haven, was charged with first-degree assault, criminal attempt at first-degree robbery, criminal use of a firearm, carrying a gun without a permit and risk of injury to a minor.
He was arraigned in Superior Court in Derby Friday afternoon, and was held on $175,000 bond.
The Shooting
Police said the shooting happened after a botched burglary attempt at apartment 50.
Just before 2 p.m. Nov. 16, Perry was allegedly seen walking through the Riverside Apartments, wearing a black vest, a light-colored thermal shirt and a black ski mask covering the lower portion of his face.
Perry allegedly walked up to a person at the complex and asked where he could buy marijuana.
The person brought Perry to apartment 50 not to buy drugs, police said, but to get change for a $100 bill.
Once inside, Perry allegedly pulled a chrome gun from his waistband, pointed it at 22-year-old Tyrease Gatison and demanded money.
Gatison refused to give Perry any money, the warrant says.
Perry “told Tyrease not to make him do it in front of [the tenant’s] kids,” the warrant says. Perry then allegedly shot Gatison in the right thigh and left the apartment.
The tenant later found a bullet casing on the kitchen floor and placed it on the tray of her 20-month-old child’s high chair for safekeeping.
Gatison was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he was treated and later released.
The Shelton Connection
Ansonia Police said Perry left the complex in a blue car driven by a woman. When police put out the car’s description to area departments, they got a bite in Shelton.
About an hour before the shooting, Shelton police had a report of a larceny at a store in that city. Surveillance video from the store shows a Hispanic female and a black male wearing similar clothing as reported by witnesses at Olson Drive, the warrant said.
They left the store in a blue Acura, similar to the car that reportedly fled the Olson Drive scene.
Police said they tracked the Acura’s registration, which came back to a woman Perry was living with. They pulled him over in New Haven Thursday evening and served the warrant.
Friday’s Court Appearance
Perry’s $200,000 bond was reduced to $175,000 at his brief arraignment Friday.
His case was continued to Dec. 7, when it will be screened for possible placement on the Part A docket, where more serious charges are heard.
The public defender suggested a $75,000 bond, saying Perry might have an alibi for the time of the shooting Nov. 16.
Perry has several prior convictions, including first-degree forgery in 2001, second-degree sexual assault in 2002 and failure to register as a sex offender in 2006.
Cooperation
Ansonia Chief of Police Kevin Hale said the arrest likely wouldn’t have been made without lots of cooperation from other police departments and the residents of the Riverside Apartment complex.
Hale said residents provided police with information that helped them track down Perry and make the arrest.
“It just goes to show what happens when you combine the two,” Hale said. “We got a lot of good information (from the residents) and good support on that case. It really turned the tide for us.”
The apartment complex has seen more than its share of violence since the summer, when two women were killed in separate incidents.
This summer, two women were killed in separate incidents. On June 22, resident Jennifer Lewis was fatally stabbed on a balcony of one of the units.
Then in July, Bernice McFadden, 39, was shot and killed when a man entered the courtyard and shot into the crowd.
An arrest has been made in the stabbing incident, but no one has been arrested for the July shooting.
Perry told police his sister is Tiffany Perry, the woman arrested for the June 22 stabbing, Hale said.
Police do not believe Monday’s shooting is related to Tiffany Perry’s arrest.
