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Kevin Jiang, age 26, who lived in West Haven, was shot to death on Lawrence Street between Nicoll Street and Nash Street Saturday, Feb. 6.
During a press conference on Monday, Feb. 8, New Haven Police Chief Otoniel Reyes said Jiang was familiar with the neighborhood where he was killed, and that a vehicle was involved in the incident.
He declined to offer additional details of the crime but did say detectives had received many leads and were looking into a vehicle accident or road rage as a reason for the brutal killing.
“We are looking into whether or not Mr. Jiang was targeted. We have developed information that the incident may not have been a random act, that he was in effect targeted,” Reyes said. “This was not, sort of, a drive-by. It seems like it was much more up-close.”
Jiang's homicide was the sixth of the year in the city which saw 22 homicides last year and 122 shootings.
In 2019 the city had 77 shootings and 11 homicides, he said.
The chief said so far this year they had seized 16 guns off the streets of a city that has seen a large increase in crime over the past year.
Mayor Justin Elicker said the pandemic had played into an increase in violent crime across the nation with children not in school.
“I want to underscore that this is a top priority, addressing the violence in the city,” said Elicker. “This (period of violence) is a tragedy for our city. We have to do everything possible to make sure we’re doing everything we can to keep people safe and keep people alive.”
Jiang had just become engaged to his finance Zion Perry days before his death.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Jan. 30, he said he had proposed to Perry and she said “yes,” and noted his powerful faith and the impact she had made on his life.
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