On a summer evening in Hamden, Connecticut, 22-year-old Kaymar Tanner, a Black male, was driving his car near the intersection of Newberry Street and Winchester Avenue on July 18, 2020. It was around 6 p.m. when the sound of gunfire shattered the evening calm. Tanner was struck by a bullet while behind the wheel of his Honda Civic. An 18-year-old female passenger was also in the vehicle at the time of the shooting.
After being shot, Tanner’s car continued to move, traveling west on
Newberry Street, crossing Newhall Street before crashing into a fence. First responders arrived at the scene, and Tanner was transported to Yale New Haven Hospital for medical attention. Despite the efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
In the days following the shooting, some community members and news outlets raised concerns about a possible delay in the police and fire department's response time. This prompted the Hamden Police Department to release a detailed timeline of the events, from the first 911 call to the arrival of emergency personnel, to address these concerns. The investigation into Tanner's death was launched by the Hamden Police Department's Detective Division, with assistance from the New Haven Police Department. An autopsy was performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine the official cause of death.
As of late 2022, the investigation into Kaymar Tanner's murder was still ongoing. While officials reported that the suspect's vehicle had been located, no arrests had been announced, and no suspects had been publicly identified in connection with the shooting. Tanner's mother, Valerie Tanner, has spoken about the enduring grief of losing her son, who she described as a lover of baseball and basketball with aspirations of one day opening his own sneaker store. In his memory, his mother has been working with others in the community to establish a garden in Hamden to honor victims of homicide. The police have continued to ask for anyone with information regarding the shooting to come forward.
