Crime & Safety

Stony Creek Still in Shock After Stray Bullets Shot by Stamfordites Hit Mainland [Video]

Three Stamford residents were arrested last Saturday for shooting guns erratically on a Thimble Island.

Of the misfired gunshots that nearly hit playing children and an elderly couple in Stony Creek, 6-year-old Danny Shaban summed up the incident while sitting at a table in Creekers yesterday afternoon. “That was just stupid,” he said, as he ate an ice cream.

Shaban, a resident of Redding, was visiting his Grandfather, Dan Bullard, the president of the Stony Creek Association with his brothers, Jack, 15, and Henry, 10.

Just a little more than a day after three people on Bear Island were arrested for firing a .22 caliber rifle at the shore of Stony Creek, Bullard was still a little surprised. In Stony Creek, he said, “somebody gets a parking ticket, but that’s about it.”

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Hunter Durbin, 35, of Stamford was reportedly sitting on the deck of his family’s home on Bear Island with acquaintances Michael Chioffe, 30 and Tracy Ambrosecchio, 25, both of Stamford on Saturday evening when Branford Police arrived at the scene. Police report that the three people were shooting at a target in the water from the home’s deck, which is about 30-40 feet above water and about a 1/4 to a 1/2 mile off the shore of Stony Creek.

An elderly man whose window was pierced by a stray bullet from the shooters on Bear Island believes they were pointing the gun in his home’s direction on Prospect Hill Road. Making a pistol with his hand, he said there’s no way they were pointing the gun down at the water. Though it has not been determined how the .22 caliber bullets made it to the home and through the window, a long rifle's range is estimated to reach anywhere from 50 to 200 yards.

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Upset about the incident and the fact that the stray bullet came within feet of the bed he and his wife were sitting on while watching a movie, the resident of the Prospect Hill Road home doesn’t believe the shooters had a “vendetta” against him or his family.

Familiar with Durbin’s father who is recently deceased and was the owner of the home where the shooters were found, the elderly man said he believed the bullet was an accident. “My feeling was that this was an errant thing but I didn’t learn until quite a bit later that there are two holes in the next door wall and even if it was erratic, people who were just erratically shooting – I can understand someone making one bad shot, who knows frankly how many bullet holes are around here.”

On the lawn below the next-door neighbor’s home, several children were flying kites at the time of the incident and heard the gunshots for more than half hour.

Anthony Ross, 5, who lives across the street with his mother Kim Ross and grandfather Herb Ross, sat on his porch opening the package of new toy and recanting the event. Brave and proud to say that he wasn’t scared, Kim made sure to add that she was. “I’m furious. I hope they throw the book at these guys. This country needs to do something about gun control.”

Richard Peck, friend of the Ross’s who lives on Money Island nearby Bear Island among the Thimbles, said he was disappointed that fellow islanders had done something so dangerous.

Around the Fourth of July holiday, he said, lots of islanders play jokes on one another but never shoot guns at the shore. In the off-season he added, some boaters and islanders will hunt for ducks and occasionally have shot out windows of empty houses on the islands by accident. He said it’s common courtesy for the hunter to pay for the window replacement and leave a note for the summer dwellers. Shooting, however, in the summer months, does not usually happen.

Branford Police Captain Geoffrey Morgan said, “The issue with duck hunters is that they are usually firing shot guns. This was purely a reckless act. We don’t believe it was their intent to shoot the house.”

Morgan reported that Marine Officers Lt. Raymond Dunbar and Officer Michael Amarante responded to Bear Island on the night of the incident and arrested the three alleged shooters. They were all charged with four counts of first degree reckless endangerment, unlawful discharge of a firearm and third degree criminal mischief. All are scheduled to appear in New Haven Court on July 5. In addition to finding the .22 caliber gun, which police believe was the source of the bullets that sprayed the two homes on the shore, Morgan also stated that other weapons including pellet and BB guns were found at the scene.

Though many people had comments about the alleged shooter, Durbin, whose family is well known on the mainland, no one was willing to go on record. Called stupid and senseless by many, one person who grew up with Durbin said, “I think it was just too much partying. He is known to drink a lot.” He added, “But I never heard of him doing anything bad in all my years out here.” The police did not say if alcohol was a factor in the incident.

Back at Creekers, Jack Shaban, grandson of Dan Bullard of the Stony Creek Association, agreed with his younger brothers that the shooters were “dumb as a box of rocks.” Explaining that he is in the process of taking a gun safety class, Shaban said, “I know from my dad who is a hunter, the first rule is, don’t ever aim [your gun] towards somebody.”


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