Report by Paula Antolini, August 13, 2021, 10:07AM
On August 11th Danbury Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour updated Wednesday’s shooting incident which occurred at the Danbury Fair Mall near Macys, shortly after 7:00p.m., when police responded to a call of shots fired.
Ridenhour said:
“Upon arrival officers found that a young female was suffering from a single gunshot wound to her upper chest area. She was conscious and alert at the scene. She was transported by ambulance to Danbury Hospital for treatment.
“The mall was immediately placed on lockdown. Not knowing how many suspects were involved or whether or not they were still in the building, our officers, along with other area agencies began a coordinated search of the building while other officers and mall security began reviewing surveillance video.
A little more than an hour into this effort it was determined that the suspects had left the building and therefore the officers transitioned to assisting and getting patrons and workers safely out of the building.
The surveillance showed that there were at least eight people involved in some type of altercation with another group near the Macy’s entrance. One person brandished a handgun and fired a single shot which struck the female.
“Further review by our investigators indicates that she was part of the group involved in the altercation, but it’s still unclear if she was the intended target of the shooting.
“We want to update that the victim is a 15 year old female, not 16 as was reported last night. Late last night she was transferred from Danbury hospital to Connecticut Children’s Hospital in Hartford for treatment pf her gunshot wound. As of this morning detectives have advised me that she is in stable condition. Her identity is still being withheld at the time as this is an ongoing investigation.
Our detectives have advised me that the suspect in this case, one shooter at this time, is a dark skinned male, possibly in his early teens, thin build, with shoulder length dreadlocks. We are very confident that he will be identified very soon. We encourage him, however, to turn himself in as soon as possible.
“We still strongly believe that this is an isolate incident and there is no ongoing risk to the general public at this time.
“On behalf of the Danbury Police I would like to thank the following agencies for their response to the mall and ongoing assistance in this investigation: The FBI, The Connecticut State Police, The Putnam County New York’s Sheriff’s Office, The Southwest Regional Emergency Services Unit, The Bethel Police Department, The Brookfield Police Department, The Newtown Police Department, The New Fairfield Police Department, The Redding Police Department and The Ridgefield Police Department.
“I would like to thank Nuvance Health, our City Emergency Management Director Matt Casavechia, and the Danbury Fire Department for their assistance at the scene, as well as Mayor Cobble and his staff, for assistance in getting information out to the public last evening.
“I also want to acknowledge the efforts of the security officers, and management team at the Danbury Fair Mall. Their quick response and coordination with the responding law enforcement agencies was extraordinary.
“And finally, thank you to the patrons and workers at the Danbury Fair Mall last night. The overwhelming majority of you remained calm and patient during which what I was sure was one of the most stressful times of your lives. Your cooperation was greatly appreciated and allowed us to get the situation under control as quickly as possible.
“Contact information will be attached to this posting for anyone who has information that they believe will help in this investigation, thank you.”
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Anyone with information that can assist with this investigation is urged to contact lead investigator, Detective Carroccio at P.Carroccio@Danbury-CT.gov, the Detective Bureau at 203-797-4662, or the Confidential TIPS line at 203-790-8477.
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