Teens Charged in New Haven BB Gun Incident

New Haven police have arrested two teens accused of shooting a BB gun at a 9-year-old boy and hitting him in the shoulder.

Police responded to a Sheffield Avenue home around 5 p.m. on Tuesday for reports that a child had been assaulted.

The boy and his mother told police that he was outside when he was shot. He looked in the direction the shot came from and saw two boys on a second-floor balcony.

One was holding a black BB gun, police said. When the boys saw the victim look at them, they ducked inside, police said.

The officers knew the teens and headed to Lilac Street, where they found the suspected offenders, separated them and questioned them, police said.

Each blamed the other. One said the BB gun was a pump pellet gun and told police where it had been hidden, police said, and the BB gun was recovered.

When police asked the other teen where the pump pellet gun was, he said he didn't know about any such gun, and then corrected the officer's description of the weapon to an "assault" style gun, according to police.

The teens were arrested and charged with reckless endangerment in the second degree, risk of injury, carrying a dangerous weapon, assault in the third degree and breach of peace.

The older teen was placed in jail and the younger was released to his grandfather with a promise to appear in court, police said.