From Cedar Atanasio, CT Post:
A Stamford man in his 20s was shot dead across from McLevy Green in downtown Bridgeport early Thursday morning.
Police Chief Armando Perez said the man, who was not identified, was shot while walking to his white Mercedes on State Street.
“They had a party (and) something went wrong,” Perez said. “The victim went out to his car (and) it appears that somebody either followed him or was waiting for him and ended up shooting him. They shot him twice.”
Full story here.
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Tiago has been a dangerous place for quite some time. This is evidenced by the frequent and intensive Bridgeport Police activity around Tiago, especially at the 1:45 a.m. closing time.
A week ago, I spoke with Michael Moore, director of the Bridgeport Downtown Special Services District, about the problem. Mike and his field director — whose name escapes me, sadly — both asked that I keep them informed of what I saw at Tiago.
I saw a lot that night — last Friday night and across midnight into Saturday morning. At the 1:45 a.m. closing time early last Saturday, more than a half-dozen BPD patrol cars converged on Tiago. This had happened many times before.
I went outside and recorded what I saw and heard so I could show the scene to DSSD. I put the video on YouTube but coded it as “private,” intended at the time just for DSSD’s use. In light of the murder early Thursday morning, I’m publishing the URL here so OIB readers can judge the problem for themselves.
Don’t forget: This video is NOT from early Thursday, the time of the murder. Rather, this video is from five nights earlier, the wee hours of Saturday at closing time. This scene has become all too common.
https://youtu.be/AJ70GNvwyms
Tiago is a dilemma.
On one hand, Tiago is a quality entertainment establishment, nicely constructed with a full schedule of all sorts of music. It is located in an office/retail building run by Forstone Management, among the best property managers downtown. (Coincidentally, DSSD is located in the same building, but DSSD’s staff is not usually on duty when Tiago’s nuisances occur.)
On the other hand, Tiago’s frequent early-morning police activity is at minumum bothersome — at most, a threat — to Downtown Bridgeport as a place to live or visit in safety for lodging or entertainment. The frequent poiice activity is also a drain on precious city police personnel and budget.
A map I made shows that Tiago and McLevy Green are central in a node of downtown residences including 333 State Street, Landmark Apartments, the Read’s building, the Arcade, and McLevy South (under construction).
McLevy Green, a beautiful city spot, is surrounded on three sides by residential developments and the fourth side by city execuitive offices including the mayoral suite. The area is also home to four prime office locations, Bridgeport Center, 855 State Street. 1057-67 Broad Street, and the Arcade.
Map of Tiago’s vicinity:
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s17/sh/7e427672-a145-4957-a353-94f8af0fbd5d/f7b7a77ff82a21e8
As I write, an event has concluded at the arena or ballpark. People are strolling up Main Street to downtown. They are happy. One couple stops at the corner of State and Main next to the chess tables at McLevy Green. They embrace and kiss.
This is the downtown we want, where people live, come to events to promote community, and where a couple can feel safe kissing. The Tiago story is sadly a counterpoint. Last night, I heard the gunshots and — because I assumed them to be an exploding electrical device — I did not call in a report to police.
Today, I spoke with Police Capt. Brian Fitzgerald, head of the homicide bureau, who said the murder at Tiago was likely an isolated incdent. (I called to offer a look at last Saturday’s video to investigators, but Fitzgerald said it was of little value.) Maybe so, but if murder was to happen, the late-night melee at Tiago is the scene I would most exprect for such a crime to occur. In general, downtown is quite safe and I believe — as did tonight’s visitors and lovers — that it remains safe, day and night. Our police and growing levels of legitimate and lawful 24/7 activity see to it.
Tiago is one of many places that have to be baby sat at closing time. This puts a strain on police resources since there are less cops on the third shift. It stands to wonder why these nights establishments do not have to hire two cops. This would help a little and if any of the cops need assistance they could use their radios. It should be a requirement to hire two cops at a minimum.
This incident should be a wake up call to the rebirth of downtown that it must be policed in order to be successful. Call this an isolated incident if you want to but it just confirms people’s fears of the city that it is not safe.
Perhaps the comedy club,beer garden when they open and Tiago’s could pool their money to hire some cops. Perhaps they could spring for high resolution cameras too. This way the patrons could feel a lot safer. You could put a cop or two on bikes to increase their presence. They could escort people to their cars.
You have to start somewhere but you also must have a serious plan for the safety of the patrons. If New Haven can police night spots and they have many Bridgeport can too.
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Okay we will take cops and have them stationed at local bars where local drunks drink. e all know they get beer muscles after a few drinks. Lets just lower the number of hours there booze nightmares are open. Its obvious the bars are not shutting patrons off soon enough. What no metal detector at the door.
Doug you need a better phone that can record a better quality video. Finally, you need to understand that recording people is certainly your right,but I can assure you that recording can be hazardous to your health. Just saying.