On the evening of April 26, 2023, Aaron Hunt, a 25-year-old male, was fatally shot in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The incident occurred in the 100 block of Denver Avenue where Hunt, a resident of the city's West Side, was an innocent bystander to a gunfight that erupted. Authorities were first alerted to the violence at approximately 8:15 p.m. by the city's ShotSpotter system, which detected gunfire. Police officers responded to the scene, where they collected evidence and conducted interviews.
However, Hunt's body was not discovered until the next morning.
It was around 8:30 a.m. the following day that a citizen discovered Hunt's body on the side of a house, positioned between a car and a fence, and immediately called the police. Medics arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the chest. The significant delay in finding Hunt has led his family to prepare a lawsuit against the city of Bridgeport, questioning the adequacy of the initial police response and whether their son might have been saved if found sooner. Hunt, the youngest of five brothers and a graduate of Brien McMahon High School, was remembered by his family as being "full of life" and was studying to become an HVAC specialist.
The investigation into the homicide led to the identification and arrest of two suspects. The first, 27-year-old Andre Johnson, was identified as the man who fired the shot that killed Hunt. Surveillance footage showed Johnson was involved in a dispute that escalated into a physical altercation and then a shootout. According to police, another man began firing at Johnson, who then returned fire, striking Hunt who was watching the events unfold. Johnson, a convicted felon, was apprehended on June 12, 2023, by a U.S. Marshals Service task force. He was charged with murder, attempted murder, second-degree assault, and criminal possession of a pistol.
A second suspect, 24-year-old Terrence Simpson, was also arrested in connection with the incident on June 21, 2023. Simpson was charged with criminal attempt at first-degree assault, criminal possession of a firearm, and illegal discharge of a firearm for his role in the gunfight. Police stated that Simpson had targeted and shot at a different individual during the altercation that ultimately led to Hunt's death.
