On the afternoon of February 6, 2023, a 26-year-old man named Tyheem Scales of Naugatuck, Connecticut, was shot and killed. The incident occurred around 2:19 p.m. on William Street in Bridgeport. Police were first alerted to the shooting by a ShotSpotter notification and subsequently received calls about a person injured inside a vehicle.
Upon arrival, officers found Scales in a car parked in a lot behind an address in the 900 block of William Street, suffering from multiple gunshot
wounds. He was rushed by ambulance to Bridgeport Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. His death was one of two unrelated homicides that took place in Bridgeport on the same day.
Family members described Scales as a light to his family and the community. A cousin mentioned that police believe Scales was a random victim of a robbery, having only been on the street for three minutes to visit a relative when he was attacked. Remembered as a warm and kind person, Scales was an honor roll student at Central Magnate High School and had become an entrepreneur. He was the proud father of a 4-year-old daughter and was his mother's only child, having lost his own father to COVID-19 a year and a half earlier.
In the immediate aftermath, Bridgeport's police chief stated that he believed the killing was specific to the individual and/or their actions and that there was no wider threat to the community. At a press conference the day after the shooting, the chief expressed confidence that detectives would bring closure to the case and have suspects in custody soon. Police have asked for the public's help, encouraging anyone with information to contact them via their anonymous tip line.
