Boy struck by stray bullet in New Haven

New Haven, Connecticut (WTNH) - Gun violence in the streets of New Haven leaves an innocent boy injured. He is recovering, but police say the incident points to a troubling trend.

It happened Tuesday just before 5:30 pm. An 11-year-old boy stopped at Moe's Market at the corner of Division Street and Dixwell Avenue. When he walked out of the store, he unfortunately found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was hit by a stray bullet.

"He wasn't an intended target,” said Assistant Police Chief Thomas Wheeler. “He just happened to be an innocent bystander that happened to step out of the store."

The boy stepped out of the store and into the path of a bullet fired during some kind of neighborhood dispute. He was hit in the arm and is being treated for what police are calling a non-life threatening injury.

Regardless of the extent of the injury, Police Chief Frank Limon says the community should be outraged.

"It's unacceptable for an 11-year-old to not be able to go to the store without facing any type of street violence that we've seen today."

Chief Limon says the biggest challenge now is getting people to break what he calls "the community code of silence."

"The community is not going to cooperate because everybody's afraid of retaliation,” explained Donna Bridges.

Bridges -- a life-long New Haven resident -- says things are out of hand, and she's not alone.

"It's outrageous. I have grandchildren,” she added. “I worry about them all the time because of this. This is crazy."

"I had just come from the store when the boy was shot. That could have been me,” said Cynthia Jones of Petersburg, VA. “But I mean, if you need stuff from the store, you're going to go to the store. So what are you doing, you're taking a chance, right?"

New Haven police say they plan to increase patrols in this neighborhood until further notice.