close
close

Mondor Festival

News with a Local Lens

Police believe University of Bridgeport shooting caused by fight
minsta

Police believe University of Bridgeport shooting caused by fight

A fight between two young men appears to have sparked a shooting in the University of Bridgeport dining hall that left one person injured, police said Wednesday.

Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter said two men who were not students at the college were involved in the dispute Tuesday evening. The victim was being treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, while an 18-year-old from New York was being sought Wednesday as a person of interest in the case, the chief said.

“We believe this was a fight over a young woman,” Porter said at a news conference. “It’s an example of young people’s ability to obtain guns and their inability to deescalate or de-escalate the situation. It’s something that we not only as a community here in Bridgeport but as a country , we need to work better with our young people on how to de-escalate and de-escalate their situations.

Porter said one of the men appeared to be a guest of a University of Bridgeport student, while the other appeared to be connected to a nearby school affiliated with the college.

The victim was shot in the right arm and his chest was grazed, Porter said, adding that the person was alert and speaking with police. No one else was injured.

Porter said Bridgeport police asked New York police for help locating the person of interest, who is from Queens.

The shooting shortly after 6:30 p.m. caused a campus lockdown that lasted into the morning. Classes resumed on Wednesday. More than a dozen people were in the dining room at the time, Porter said. It is unclear how many shots were fired.

The private college’s president, Danielle Wilken, said the dining hall was open to the public Tuesday evening due to sporting events on campus.

The nonprofit school has approximately 4,100 undergraduate and graduate students.

This story has been updated.