Police believe University of Bridgeport shooting stemmed from fight

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — A fight between two young men appeared to have sparked a shooting at the University of Bridgeport dining hall that injured one person, police said Wednesday.

Bridgeport police Chief Roderick Porter said two men who were not students of the college were involved in the dispute Tuesday evening. The victim was being treated at a hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening, while an 18-year-old from New York City was being sought as a person of interest in the case Wednesday, the chief said.

“We believe that it was a situation over a fight over a young lady,” Porter said at a news conference. “This is an example of young individuals’ ability to obtain firearms and their inability to de-escalate or diffuse situations. That’s something that we not only as a community here in Bridgeport but as a country, we need to work on our young people better on how to de-escalate and diffuse their situations.”

Porter said one of the men appeared to be a guest of a University of Bridgeport student, while the other seemed to be connected to a nearby school affiliated with the college.

The victim was shot in the right arm and his chest was grazed, Porter said, adding that the person was alert and talking with police. No one else was hurt.

Porter said Bridgeport police asked New York City police for help in finding the person of interest, who is from Queens.

The shooting shortly after 6:30 p.m. prompted a campus lockdown that lasted into the morning. Classes resumed Wednesday. More than a dozen people were in the dining hall at the time, Porter said. It wasn’t clear how many shots were fired.

The private college’s president, Danielle Wilken, said the dining hall was open to the public Tuesday evening because of sporting events on campus.

The nonprofit school has about 4,100 undergraduate and graduate students.