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Girl "Brain Dead" After Tonsils Out

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The family of an Oakland 13-year-old girl is demanding answers about how a routine procedure to help fix her sleep apnea turned tragic when the 8th grader was declared brain dead three days after having her tonsils removed.

Moments after waking up from a tonsillectomy on Dec. 9, Jahi McMath was talking with her family and asking for a Popsicle. Thirty minutes later she was choking on her own blood and went into cardiac arrest in the Oakland Children's Hospital Intensive Care Unit, according to her relatives. She was delared "brain dead" on Dec. 12, her family said.

On Monday morning, Jahi's mother, stepfather uncle and grandmother planned to meet again with doctors to find out more information and to demand that the hospital conduct an investigation into what happened to the E.C. Reems Academy of Technology and Arts student known for her bubbly spirit and wide-tooth grin.

Her family has been told that Jahi is now considered a “coroner’s case,” though they are vehemently against taking her off life support. Her stepfather, Marvin Winkfield, said the family is feeling pressured to say their final goodbyes, when the girl's heart is beating and they are not ready to let her go.

"My child was fine before I brought her here," Jahi's mother, Nailah Winkfield, said outside the hospital Monday morning. "I don't want to bury my 13-year-old who came here for a better quality of life. This is horrible. I will not leave without my daughter. This is a mother's worst nightmare."

Jahi's uncle, Omar Sealey, 27, said the family believes “an error was committed by the hospital, either before, during, or after surgery. I absolutely believe that somewhere along the way, there was a protocol that wasn’t followed, or there was a surgical error.”

A spokeswoman for the hospital said staff is "currently reviewing the case and we do not have enough information to make any further statements at this time. “

“We are very sad about her condition and our hearts go out to her family," spokeswoman Melinda Krigel said in an email.

Sealey provided a rough timeline of what happened after Jahi's tonsils were removed a week ago. After she asked for a Popsicle, it became immediately clear that something was wrong.

“She wasn’t able to talk, and she started to write notes to her mother saying I’m swallowing too much mucus, mom – am I OK? Mom – I feel like I’m choking,” Sealey recalled. “And she began to write these notes because she couldn’t talk because there was so much blood – it wasn’t mucus – it was blood. But my sister, the mother, was too afraid to let her know that it was blood and not mucus.”

He said the scene was gruesome: “She was coughing up buckets of blood.”

At the same time, Sealey said it appeared to the family as though the nursing staff had vanished during what seemed to be a shift change. In the family's mind, there didn't seem to be enough hospital staff in the room to help. The family started suctioning blood themselves; Jahi's grandmother, Sandra Chatman, is a nurse at another hospital.

“A 13-year-old should not have to suction herself,” Sealey said. “She had to use a suction machine to suction her own blood. Her mother and stepfather had to suction out her blood at points, none of them work for this hospital.”

The family hasn’t left Jahi’s side since the surgery. They are making sure she is comfortable and playing her favorite songs to her on her iPod.

“My little girl in there, my little niece, is in there with her own heartbeat, which lets me know that she is alive,”  Sealey told NBC Bay Area.

Her family is continuing to pray for her recovery.

“We’ve had a lot of supporters here,” Sealey said. “There’s been lots and lots of prayers, lots of faith, lots of belief. And everyone’s spirits are strong right now. We don’t want them taking her off life support; we are a family of God, and we do honestly believe that she will get up."

 



Photo Credit: Courtesy of Jahi McMath's family

I-395 In Lisbon Reopens After Crash

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Interstate 395 has reopened in both directions in Lisbon after a rollover crash.

State police say the crash occurred about 1 p.m.  in the northbound lanes of I-395 between exits 83 and 83A.  Both sides of the highway were shut down during the investigation.

Lifestar helicopter transported one victim to Hartford Hospital, according to state police.

The highway reopened around 2:45 p.m.

Felon Had Loaded Gun in His Taxi: Cops

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Fairfield police arrested a cab driver with a criminal record after finding a loaded gun under the seat of the taxi, according to police.    

Albrent Daniels, 39, is a convicted felon who police said supplied a gun to Russell Peeler Jr. police said.

Peeler was convicted of ordering the January 1999 killings of 8-year-old Leroy "B.J." Brown Jr., and his mother, Karen Clarke, in Bridgeport. He is now on death row.

Fairfield police stopped the Yellow Cab that Daniels was driving because he was talking on a cell phone and found the loaded firearm and a spent shell casing, police said.

Daniels was charged with a weapon in a motor vehicle, no pistol permit, altering a firearm, criminal possession of a gun, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Court documents say Daniels was one of Peeler’s associates in the drug trade and procured the gun Peeler used to kill Clarke and Brown. .

Bond in the Fairfield case was set at $100,000.
 



Photo Credit: Fairfield Police

Water Main Break Closes Route 194 in South Windsor

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Sullivan Avenue, or Route 194, in South Windsor will be closed for much of the day because of a water main break.

The break is near Geissler’s supermarket and traffic will be diverted onto Hillside Drive and Graham Road. 

The repair is expected to be completed at about 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. and police are asking drivers to avoid the area and use an alternate route today.  

Police have also alerted the school bus company and put up detour signs. 
 



Photo Credit: Peggy Cassidy

Man Ordered Robbery, Shooting: Cops

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Police have taken a man into custody who they said is suspected of ordering the robbery and shooting of another man at the “7 Eleven” market at 1351 Whalley Avenue on February 16.

McKenny Davis, who is now 21, had been shot four times and was rushed to Yale–New Haven Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

Police investigated and said they determined that the shooting was in retaliation for a two-year old altercation between Davis and a man known as “Squeak.”

Police said Edward “Squeak” Wright, 20, who lives in the West Hills section of New Haven, was wanted on an outstanding warrant for unrelated gun crimes and confessed he’d ordered Davis to be robbed and shot.

On November 19, Wright was arrested and charged with criminal liability for acts of another/assault-first degree and criminal liability for acts of another/criminal attempt/robbery-first degree.

Police are still investigating and trying to identify the gunman.
 

Man Beaten During Attempted Robbery in New Haven

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A New Haven man was beaten during an attempted robbery on Sunday night. 

Officers John Barbetti and Nicholas Katz responded a report of a disoriented man in the area of Elsworth Avenue and Edgewood Avenue around 11 p.m. on Sunday and found a 33-year-old Elsworth Avenue resident with a bloodied face.

He told police that he had walked home and found two men waiting there.

They claimed they knew someone else who lived there and attacked the victim when he turned away, police said.

He said the men knocked him down and punched and kicked him while demanding that he hand over his money.

The victim said he said he did not have any, and did not even have a wallet.

The men ran off and the victim was not able to provide a description.
 

Baby Left in Cold Car: Cops

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A New Britain, Conn., mother was arrested Friday, accused of falsely reporting that her 8-month-old daughter had been kidnapped and leaving the little girl outside in a freezing cold car.

Leah M. Nichols was calm when she called police around 2 a.m. on Friday to report that someone had broken through her door and kidnapped her daughter, police said. She was calm as she made the report and had not been hurt, police said.

Police soon found Nichols’ daughter in the mother’s vehicle, which was in the back yard of her Lawlor Street residence.

Three windows were broken, the temperature was around 9 degrees and the little girl was wearing just one layer of clothes and had a blanket, according to police.

Police had responded to the house about an hour earlier when the windows had been reported broken, so they determined the longest the child could have been in the car was around 55 minutes.

Police said Nichols, 30, was upset with the child’s father and told him that the child was kidnapped. The boyfriend then came home and called police, according to the department.

The child was not hurt and was in good health, but was taken to the hospital for an examination, police said.

Nichols was charged with risk of injury; falsely reporting and incident; and criminal attempted manslaughter.

She is being held on $200,000 bond and she is due back in court on Jan. 22.

 



Photo Credit: New Britain Police

More Snow on the Way

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More snow is moving in tomorrow and will drop between 2 and 5 inches before it's over. 

Winter weather advisories are in effect for the southern half of Connecticut, but they will likely be issued for the entire state soon.

The snow is expected to begin falling around 9 a.m. and will last on and off until around 5 p.m., according to NBC Connecticut Meteorologist Bob Maxon.

That will cause problems on the roads, so watch for slick spots once that snow does move in.

In advance of the snow, the state  Department of Motor Vehicles is cancelling all morning road tests for Tuesday. They expect road tests to resume at 1 p.m., but DMV officials will evaluate road conditions in the morning.

Check for updates on the DMV website.

If you have a road test scheduled, call the DMV to choose a new date. If you are in the Hartford area,call 860-263-5700 or 800-842-8222 if you are outside the Hartford area.

Check the forecast online here at any time.

Sign up to receive closing alerts here.

Check the closings here.

When you get snow, we want your photos. Send them to us at shareit@nbcconnecticut.com.



Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut

Michelin Recalls 1.2M Tires in U.S.

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Michelin has announced a recall of 1.2 million Michelin LTX M/S tires typically found on commercial light trucks, full-sized heavy duty vans, small RVs and some large pickup trucks.

The tire version and size were listed as Michelin LTX M/S LT 225/75R16 115/112R LRE.

The tires were produced between January 2010 and June 2012, the company said, and were fitted as original equipment on some new vehicles and sold as new replacement tires.

The recall was issued after some tires experienced tread loss or rapid air loss, the company said.

Michelin said it recommends removal of the tires as soon as possible and directs owners to visit an authorized Michelin retail location to have the tires replaced at no charge.

Questions can be directed to Michelin Consumer Care at 1-800-231-5893.

For more information, including instructions on determining whether your car is affected, click here.

 



Photo Credit: AP/PRNewsFoto

Reward for TV Director's Killer

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A $75,000 reward was posted Monday in the deadly home-invasion shooting of a director who worked on the reality TV show “America’s Next Top Model,” police said.

Investigators said they have exhausted all possible leads and are asking for the public’s help to find the two men who burst into James Marcus Howe’s home in Los Angeles, killing the 42-year-old father and husband the day before Thanksgiving.

Howe and his wife were at their Glassell Park home the morning of Nov. 27 when someone knocked on the door posing as a lone salesman, Los Angeles police said. When the couple answered the door, two men – believed to be between 20 and 25 years old – forced their way inside.

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A fight ensued and one of the men pulled out a gun and opened fire, fatally striking Howe. The director’s wife was also struck by gunfire, but survived and is now struggling to cope while raising their 6-year-old son alone.

"I'm kind of going through grief and denial," said Alicia Shoemaker, the victim's sister-in-law. "The whole entire thing is unbelievable to me."

A woman is believed to have been driving the get-away car, described as a dark green, convertible Ford Mustang with a tan top, police said. The car is believed to be between model years 1994 and 2004.

Howe worked as a second-unit director for a season on "America's Next Top Model," and was also the second-unit director of the reality show "A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila."

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Detectives said they're at a loss for what motivated the deadly crime. Loved ones and law enforcement hope the newly posted $75,000 reward will help solve the case.

"It's a horrible tragedy we can't undo, but we can make sure justice prevails," LA City Councilman Jose Huizar said at a news conference Monday.

The Los Angeles City Council is expected to formally approve the reward at its meeting Tuesday.

Anyone with information in the case is urged to call Detective Aguilar or Officer Watterson at 323-344-5744.

Anonymous tips can be reported by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, by texting the tip preceded by the letters “LAPD” to CRIMES (274637), or by visiting LAPDonline.org and clicking on “webtips.”



Photo Credit: Los Angeles Police Department

Blaze Engulfs Yacht in San Diego

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A yacht is destroyed after bursting into flames Monday afternoon on Harbor Island. It is expected to be towed to South Bay Marine Group on Monday night.

Fire engulfed the Sea Siesta, a 57-foot Chris Craft Constellation that was docked alongside other boats at the Sunroad Resort Marina.

Two San Diego Harbor Police boats used water cannons and foam to extinguish the fire around 12:30 p.m. Monday.

Flames destroyed Christmas decorations on the deck and a Christmas tree on the roof along with a bicycle and what looked like several toys. Divers are now preparing to put some flotation devices on bottom of yacht to get it off floor of the bay so it can be towed.

Two workers were on board when this fire began and so was the female owner, according to officials. The workers are believed to have helped pull the owner out of the burning yacht.

Electric holiday lights strung along the yacht were left on overnight after Sunday’s Parade of Lights had ended, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue officials.

Fire investigators will look into the possibility that those electric lights may have caused the fire.

Investigators with the San Diego Metro Arson Strike Team will look over the vessel for evidence once it is towed to a South Bay boat yard.

Once harbor police crews put out the fire, the yacht began listing greatly over to one side.

“That’s one of the problems and challenges of a boat fire,” San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesperson Maurice Luque said explaining how firefighters are careful how much water they use in these situations because too much water can cause sink a vessel.

U.S. Coast Guard crews are investigating possible contaminants that may have been released from the fire into the water.

The 1,500 gallons of diesel still in the yacht’s tanks is of great concern.

Officials said a vessel salvage company will come in and surround the yacht with buoys and tow it out of the marina to avoid any environmental concerns over the boat and its fuel sinking in the bay.

The Sea Siesta was a 57-foot wood and fiberglass boat available for charter as a bed and breakfast.

There are more than 100 boats docked in the marina along Harbor Island Drive just west of downtown and south of Lindbergh Field.

No other vessels were damaged.

Forty firefighters and 20 Harbor Police officers responded to the fire.

The Parade of Lights is an annual event where dozens of decorated boats parade on the harbor and along the Embarcadero.



Photo Credit: NBC 7 News

Bristol Man Has Been Missing for More Than 2 Weeks

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Police have issued a Silver Alert for a Bristol man who has been missing since November 28 and has not been taking his medication.

The last time Michael Jandreau, 58, was seen, he was leaving his brother's home on Hurley Hill Lane in Bristol in a taxi.

Jandreau has been treated for psychological disorders and is currently off his medication, police said.

He has been known to buy airline tickets, fly to random airports and stay in the airport terminals for days, according to police.

When Jandreau was last seen, he was wearing a gray jacket and blue jeans.

Jandreau is 5-feet-7, approximately 190 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on where Jandreau is should call Detective Robert Motel at the Bristol Police Department at 860- 314-4565.



Photo Credit: Bristol Police

Police Officer Shot in Leg in Bridgeport

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A police officer was shot in the leg at the Bagel King in Bridgeport this morning and it is being investigated as an accidental shooting, police said.

The incident happened within the last hour at 3550 Main Street.

The officer is in stable condition and is expected to be OK.

No additional information was immediately available.


 



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Man Blocked Ambulance in Driveway: Police

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South Windsor police have arrested a local man who they said blocked an ambulance that was trying to transporting a patient from the driveway he shares with a neighbor.

South Windsor Police were responding a Foster Road home to conduct a welfare check when a neighbor took offense to officers and an ambulance being parked in the shared driveway, police said. 

Richard Cote, 67,  threatened the officers, hollered and swore at them to move the cruisers and ambulance, then parked his car behind the ambulance, police said.

Officers repeatedly asked Cote to move his car and arrested him for his failure to comply, police said.

Cote was charged with interfering with an officer and disobeying the signal of an officer. 

He was later released on a $5,000 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear at Manchester Superior Court on Jan. 9.
 



Photo Credit: South Windsor Police

Committee to Meet on Metro-North Rail Safety

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A Connecticut legislative committee will hold a public hearing on Wednesday to discuss Metro-North and rail safety.

The hearing comes after several high-profile problems on the rails, including a derailment in New York on December 1 that killed four people and injured dozens of others; a derailment in Bridgeport in May that injured 73 passengers, two engineers and a conductor; and the death of a track foremen in West Haven on May 28.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the train that derailed in the Bronx had been traveling at 82 miles per hour in a 30 miles per hour zone.

Following that crash, the NTSB issued some safety requirements, including one calling for two crew members to be at the controls in areas where there are significant speed restrictions.

Prior to the fatal crash in West Haven, the track foreman had requested a track section be taken out of service for maintenance and a student traffic controller who didn't have the required approval placed it back in service too soon, according to the NTSB.

The Connecticut legislature’s Transportation Committee is holding the hearing at 2:15 p.m. in Room 1-E of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

 


Police Investigate Death of Woman in Southington

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A Bristol woman who survived the crash that killed one of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez’s family members was found dead in Southington early Monday morning. 

Tabitha Perry, 27, was in the crash in Farmington in July that killed Thaddeus L. Singleton III, 33, of Bristol.

Singleton was married to Hernandez’s cousin and lived with Hernandez’s uncle, Andres Valderamma, in Bristol, according to authorities.

The car that Perry and Singleton were in during the Farmington crash was also registered in Valderamma’s name.

Police previously identified Perry as one of Singleton’s friends and her mother said the two had been friends for around eight years. 

Southington police found Perry just before 3 a.m. on Monday after receiving a 911 medical call at 25 Darling Street reporting that a woman was unconscious and not breathing.

Perry had been visiting a friend when she was found, according to police.

An ambulance transported her from the scene to the Hospital of Central Connecticut, Bradley campus, where she was pronounced dead.

Police said they found no suspicious circumstances and detectives are waiting on autopsy results and a toxicology report.

Hernandez, a Bristol native and former New England Patriot, has been indicted in the killing of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old Massachusetts man who was dating the sister of Hernandez's girlfriend.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty.
 

NJ Carjacking Victim's Funeral Set

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A funeral is scheduled for Wednesday for the 30-year-old lawyer fatally shot in a carjacking as he left an upscale New Jersey mall after shopping with his wife.

Services for Dustin Friedland will be held at 11 a.m. at Beth Am Shalom in Lakewood.  

The Hoboken attorney was shot in the head Sunday night as he and his wife returned to their silver 2012 Range Rover, which was parked on the third level of the deck near Nordstrom.

Police say two men approached Friedland and opened fire as he was getting into the driver's side after opening the passenger side door for his wife. They then jumped into the car and sped off, possibly down Route 24. 

Friedland was pronounced dead at the hospital. His wife was not hurt.

The stolen Range Rover was recovered Monday morning, abandoned in Newark about 15 miles away from the mall, but police are still looking for the suspects.

Mall officials said they were working with local police in the investigation. 

Friedland, a patent lawyer who graduated from Syracuse Law School, grew up in Toms River, according to friends. He graduated in 2002 from Toms River North High School, where he was an accomplished swimmer, rower and Eagle Scout.

His former co-workers at Lerner David in Westfield said he was universally liked, calling him "the most charming, delightful guy." 

"The staff loves him. They were in tears and some of them still are," said law partner Bruce Sales. "It's disbelief." 

Friedland's former neighbors in Hoboken, where he'd lived with his younger brother before marrying his wife, Jamie, recalled the "wonderful young man who had his whole life ahead of him," according to Joe Auriemma. 

"It can happen to anyone and that is the worst part of it all," said former neighbor Ryan Florez. 

Friedland met his wife at Syracuse Law School and they married two years ago. 

Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the prosecutor's office at (877) 847-7432.

Brian Thompson and Jen Maxfield contributed to this report. 



Photo Credit: Facebook/NBC 4 New York

Superintendents Lose Sleep Over Snow-Day Decision

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When the forecast calls for snow, superintendents across Connecticut lose sleep over the decision, literally and figuratively.

Of the schools that opened today, some dismissed students early. Other schools were closed altogether.

Cromwell superintendent Dr. Paula Talty, who has been up since 3 a.m., said the snow-day decision is one of the toughest aspects of her job.

'It's really a no-win situation', Talty said.

Losing a day now means she might have to extend the school year into June, when children are already focused on their plans for the summer.

Talty said she started watching the forecast last night and then spoke to several other superintendents in the early morning hours to get a feel for what they were doing.

She also spoke to Cromwell road crews to get their take on what conditions might be throughout the day.

The students' safety is priority one, Talty said, and she tries to make the call as early as possible so parents can adjust schedules accordingly.

Today, Cromwell schools released students early, so the students got some learning in and no school day was lost, Talty said.



Photo Credit: Brad Blanchard

Police Make Arrests in Hartford Kidnapping and Homicide

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Police have made two arrests in connection with the homicide of a man who was kidnapped in Hartford, shot in the head and left for dead on Riverview Street in Portland on September 5. 

Police have arrested a woman and a man and charged them with the murder of Christopher "T.J." Jefferson, 26, of Bond Street in Hartford.

Police arrested Madelyne Martinez-Mercado, 23, of New Britain, and Talib Shaheer, 32, of Waterbury and said they are accused of shooting Jefferson while trying to steal marijuana from them.

Martinez-Mercado was found yesterday in New Britain and booked this morning after the arrest warrant was completed.

Shaheer, who police identified as the driver, was taken into custody on this afternoon in Waterbury and is being booked in Hartford.

A witness called police on Sept. 5 after finding Jefferson unconscious on the side of the road around 3 p.m. that day, according to authorities. Neighbors said he was half naked and wearing only boxers.

He had been shot in the head, badly beaten and was unconscious, police said.

A witness, identified only as Glenda, said she saw the whole thing happen. Glenda said the car ran a stop sign, and the woman had a gun.

Police said today that witnesses saw a woman holding a gun to the Jefferson's head and he tried to escape as the car drove off.

According to police, Jefferson got into the back seat of the car with Martinez-Mercado and Shaheer to "conduct a transaction" and the suspects tried to steal marijuana from him.

Martinez-Mercado pointed a gun at Jefferson, according to police, and Jefferson was shot once in the head during a struggle as they were on Bond Street.

The two suspects then brought Jefferson to Portland and abandoned him, police said.



Photo Credit: Hartford Police

Case Continued for Student Who Prompted University of New Haven Lockdown

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The court case for a University of New Haven student accused of bringing loaded guns to campus has been continued.

William Dong, 22, was arrested earlier this month after prompting a campus lockdown and a building-by-building search at the West Haven, Conn. school, police said.

When police detained Dong, he had one handgun on his person and another in a laptop case, according to police.

Police said they also found a Bushmaster assault rifle in Dong's car, which was parked in a lot on Campbell Avenue.

This gun, the same make as the one used in the Sandy Hook school shooting, is illegal in the state of Connecticut, officials said.

He told police he had the guns to protect himself from mass shootings that had been happening, New Haven Police Officer Kealyn Nivakoff, of the New Haven Firearms Unit, said.

Dong also told police that he had it because he was going to the shooting range the next day, said Nivakoff, who was involved in the West Haven investigation.

As several police departments searched the West Haven campus, police in Fairfield searched Dong's family home, including his padlocked bedroom.

After getting past the padlocks, police found newspaper clippings of the Aurora, Colo., movie theater mass shooting and 2,700 rounds of ammunition, police said.

Dong has been charged with illegal possession of an assault weapon, breach of peace and other counts and is being held on a $500,000 bond.

When Dong appeared in court earlier this month, his family had nothing to say to the media.

On the day of the school lockdown, no shots were fired.

Dong, a commuter student, has been suspended for violating the code of conduct.

The incident was the third college campus lockdown in Connecticut since November. 

Yale University, located just miles away, issued a lockdown just before Thanksgiving for about seven hours after someone called police and said his roommate was on his way to the Ivy League school to shoot people. No threat was found.

In November, Central Connecticut State University in New Britain was locked down after a man in a Halloween costume sparked a massive police presence.

 

 



Photo Credit: Jess Leeb/West Haven Police Dept.
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