UPDATE: Domestic Violence Dispute Led To Homicide/Suicide, Another Gunshot Victim In Critical Condition: NHPD

NEW HAVEN, CT — It's likely that a domestic dispute inside a Congress Avenue home in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday —where children were — led to a man shooting two women; one his girlfriend, now fighting for her life, and the other died from her injuries, and then turning the gun on himself, police said.

It was just before 2 a.m., when police got a 911 call reporting that a "male had shot a female victim then himself," New Haven police said in an afternoon news briefing.

But when cops arrived to the house on the 700-block of Congress Avenue, they found three people shot.

One, who New Haven Chief of Police Karl Jacobson said is a "domestic violence victim," a 38-year-old woman, was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital and is in critical condition. She is the mother of the two children who were in the house at the time of the shootings. Jacobson said their father is incarcerated.

Police said Jennifer Adams, 35, a friend of the woman now hospitalized, was shot and killed.

And the man police said shot both women, and then turned the gun on himself, is 41-year-old Kerwin Romero.

"While clearing the residence, police found two minor children who were present in the apartment," who while "physically unharmed" are receiving resources from Yale Child Study Center and Clifford Beers and are "safe with family."

Jacobson said that the police Bureau of Identification and Special Victim Unit investigators, while "early in the investigation," concluded that there was a "domestic dispute within the house (which) escalated into gunfire."

The woman who is fighting for her life is Romero's girlfriend, Jacobson said. Adams was a friend, he said.

During a search of the home, police found an unregistered weapon that will be tested and is a key part of the investigation, Jacobson said.

Romero and the woman now hospitalized do not have prior police contact related to domestic violence, Jacobson said, but he noted that the "early indication" is the Romero opened fire and then shot himself.

Romero does have an existing domestic violence case out of West Haven, Jacobson said, and court records show.

In July 2025, Romero was arrested and charged by West Haven police related to a Nov. 2024 incident and was charged with second-degree assault, second-degree threatening violence to terrorize and disorderly conduct, police said, and court records show.

And, Romero "has an extensive history with us," Jacobson said.

In 2012, Romero was found guilty of first-degree assault with serious injury and criminal possession of a firearm. In July 2025, after being released from prison and was on probation, police said he violated that probation and has a Dec. 11 court date on that matter.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker noted that Romero, after being released from prison, was participating in the city's anti-gun violence initiative called PRESS: Program for Reintegration, Engagement, Safety, and Support."

Elicker and Jacobson both addressed the importance of reporting incidents of domestic or family violence before the worst happens.

"It's that time of year when families are together a lot. We see a lot of domestic violence about this time of the year. Call police before we have a terrible incident like we did last night."