One Man shot outside New Haven Catholic school and bullet flying into pre-K classroom

A pre-kindergarten classroom filled with 11 children in New Haven was hit by gunfire after a shooting outside the school left a man injured.

According to police, around 9 a.m. officers were dispatched to the area near Alden and Fountain streets for a report of a person shot.

Assistant Chief Renee Dominguez said a man got out of a truck just before 9 a.m. and shot at another man who was dropping off a child off at Catholic Academy; the number of bullets fired is unknown, but 10 casings were found at the scene.

Police also said the victim had been acquitted of a murder charge, was recently released from prison and was a suspect in “numerous” shootings.

The shooter remained at large Monday afternoon and was described as a black man standing at about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds, police said Monday evening, correcting earlier descriptions that identified the shooter as a white man.

Seven of the ten shots fired in the incident hit the Catholic Academy of New Haven at 351 McKinley Ave., according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Hartford. One of those shots entered a pre-k classroom.

The archdiocese praised faculty and staff at the school for how they executed the crisis plan, which included a lockdown.

Police describe the shooter as a man who is about 5’8″-5’10” tall and weighs about 160 lbs. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and mask under his eyes.

Mayor-elect Justin Elicker called the shooting, two days after the 7th anniversary of the killing of 20 first-graders and 6 staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School, “very concerning.”

“We wish to thank the New Haven Police Department for their swift response, and Mayor-Elect Justin Elicker for his visit and compassion for our community,” the school wrote in a statement. “We also would like to offer our assurance to the community of the Catholic Academy of New Haven that neither the school nor its students were the target of this senseless and violent act, and that the safety of the student body is the top priority for all of our schools.”