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Police: Brazen Norwalk Shooter Will Be Caught

NORWALK, Conn. – The fact that the shooting of a Greenwich woman in Norwalk happened in broad daylight Wednesday is one of the reasons Norwalk Police are confident the crime will be solved, Lt. Timothy Murphy said.

Evidence includes video surveillance film, and citizens were helpful, he said. "People are concerned about a crime like this so people are willing to come forward and give us information," said Murphy, the leader of the detective bureau. "Because it happened in the daytime there are a lot of avenues of evidence we can gather to give us a suspect."

The 50-year-old victim was shot one time in the abdomen at about 1:40 p.m. at the Stop and Shop at 385 Connecticut Avenue, Chief Thomas Kulhawik said. She was taken to Norwalk Hospital and went into surgery immediately and "was in surgery quite a while," he said.

Her husband was working in New York City and her 15-year-old son was down the road at Rip Van Winkle Lanes when she was shot.

She was walking to her Mercedes at the far north end of the parking lot when her attacker came upon her. "We can't get too specific, but just to say it appears he approached her vehicle as she got into the vehicle and then reached inside," Kulhawik said. "Whether there was a scuffle or in reaching, that's when the shot was fired."

Police dogs from Westport and Fairfield helped to track the suspect. Police spent much time in the area of Colonial Village, but said the suspect is not hiding there. Residents were helpful, they said.

"With the information we have and the evidence we recovered I am confident that we will identify this person and bring this person to justice," Kulhawik said. "How long it will take? It's difficult right now, we have a lot of legwork to do and a lot of forensic evidence to process, either at the state lab or private labs if necessary, use all of our resources. I am confident, given the information that we have now, that we will be successful."

There were many cars parked in the area. Police believe they belonged to people who boarded a bus bound for a casino.

Hours after the shooting Lt. Art Weisgerber dusted some of the vehicles for prints. Murphy said the door on one of the cars was open a couple of inches. "The theory is maybe the suspect could have been trying to burglarize some of the cars that were in this area and then saw this woman and escalated his crime intent," he said. "It's just a theory. We don't believe at this time that any of those vehicles parked in this area were related to the crime."

Police think the shooting was "just a crime of opportunity," he said. 

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