Woman Injured In Shooting In New Haven: Police

NEW HAVEN, CT — A West Haven man has been charged in connection with a shooting that injured a woman in New Haven on New Year’s Eve, according to police.

New Haven police responded around 7:55 p.m. on Dec. 31 to the area of Chapel Street and Kensington Street on the report of a shooting.

Officers found the victim, a 35-year-old woman from New Haven, according to police. She was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital for treatment of injuries that police said were determined to not be life-threatening.

Police said officers determined that there was an exchange of gunfire between the occupants of a vehicle on Chapel Street and a man, later identified as 53-year-old Heshimu Barker of West Haven, standing on the sidewalk.

“Following the gunfire, one vehicle crashed into a pole and the occupants fled,” New Haven police wrote in a news release. “Barker then fled the area in his vehicle and was subsequently located in West Haven. He was taken into custody on unrelated charges.”

Barker was later arrested by New Haven police on a warrant and charged with criminal attempt at first-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, unlawful discharge of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, and criminal possession of a firearm. He was held in lieu of a $500,000 bond.

“This was great police work by our officers and detectives,” New Haven Assistant Police Chief David Zannelli said. “Our Intel Center was able to develop a suspect vehicle and our Major Crimes and plainclothes detectives worked in collaboration with the West Haven Police Department to take a dangerous suspect into custody within a few hours.”

Any witnesses, or anyone with information, are asked to contact the New Haven Police Department at 203-946-6304 or the anonymous tip-line at 866-888-TIPS (8477).