BRIDGEPORT POLICE ARREST MAN FOR ILLEGALLY POSSESSING GUN HE USED IN SELF DEFENSE HOMICIDE IN P.T. BARNUM
Bridgeport Police on Sunday arrested a 20-year-old for illegally possessing the gun he used to shoot and kill a man in the P.T. Barnum public housing complex in August, in what State’s Attorney Office determined was self-defense.
Syncaire Williams of Bridgeport was served with a felony warrant by the Homicide Unit Sunday afternoon charging him with Criminal Possession of a Firearm in the shooting of Johnny Nesmith, 46, on August 9th, 2026. Surveillance video showed both fired at each other near Building 21 at around 1:00 a.m., hours after a reunion of P.T. Barnum residents the previous day. Nesmith was hit by multiple bullets and died later at Bridgeport Hospital. Williams was not shot. Detectives had been looking for him since the shooting.
Numerous witnesses told detectives Williams had beaten and robbed Johnny Nesmith in P.T. Barnum a couple of weeks before the shooting. Mr. Nesmith did not report the incident to the police.
Williams was served with the warrant after he was arrested shortly after midnight Sunday for home invasion and burglary after he and another man broke into a home on Kent Avenue while the residents were still inside.
Syncaire Willams was given a bond of $750,000 on the Criminal Possession of a Firearm charge. His bond in the home invasion case was $300,000. It was raised from $100,000.