#Bridgeport CT–Police made two arrests and seized two handguns in connection with ongoing violence between two rival gangs in the city.
Abdul “Major” Bradley, 18, and Davon Taylor, 19, both of Bridgeport, were arrested Thursday on weapons-related charges — a day after police responded to another report of shots fired in the area of the Greene Homes housing complex.
“There has been back-and-forth gunfire between these factions and we have intended targets who refused to say anything and preferred to handle it themselves,” said Police Chief Joseph L. Gaudett Jr. “If police hadn’t intervened, I believe somebody would have ultimately died.”
The latest gunfire happened Wednesday in the Greene Homes complex. Witnesses reported that there was an exchange of gunfire between gang members from the East Side and The Hollow neighborhood.
The violence is believed to stem from a 2012 homicide in the East Side.
No arrests were made Wednesday. Police detained Bradley and Taylor but released them because there wasn’t probable cause for an arrest. Bradley is affiliated with the East Side gang but had been staying at his mother’s house, under court order after his release from jail, in the territory of the rival gang. Police believe that had prompted a number gunfire incidents.
On Thursday, Bridgeport Police Sgt. Jason Amato, a member of the State Police Gang Task Force, received information that “Major” and a second male were on Catherine Street with guns.
Members of the task force already were focused on Bradley because of the previous violence, and Bridgeport police saturated the area and Detectives Sean Ronan and Ada Curet arrived first and saw the two run into 104 Catherine Street. They followed through the open front door, and detained the two as they came back downstairs from the second floor.
Amato and other officers arrived and spoke to Bradley’s mother. Initially, she was reluctant to cooperate but after police allowed her to speak to her son – and he stated there was nothing to be found and “let the cops search” – she agreed to let police check the house. During the search, police found two handguns in the upstairs closet of Bradley’s 7-year-old sister.
“Bridgeport has 140,000 residents. A few hundred drive our violence,” Mayor Bill Finch said. “Bradley is one of them and he is off the streets. I hope the courts keep it that way.”
.Both men had bonds of $150,000 on charges of carrying a pistol without a permit, theft a firearm, reckless endangerment, risk of injury to a minor and interfering with police.