Hartford Police Department Solves Highway Shooting Case with ShotSpotter

On October 20, 2020, a detective on the highway reported over the radio to dispatch that he had been shot at by another vehicle. With the help of SoundThinking’s ShotSpotter gunshot detection system, investigators located audio of 9 rounds fired on the exact pinpointed location, enabling HPD to promptly shut down the impacted stretch of highway.

Investigators from Hartford’s Real Time Crime Center (C4) were able to locate 9 spent 9mm shell casings in the road, and a suspect vehicle was broadcast on the air in Hartford and surrounding towns.

One hour later, the New Britain PD located the vehicle, with a cursory search in the driveway revealing a live 9mm round inside a trash can. The shell casings from the highway and the recovered firearm were brought into the CT State Forensic Lab. A NIBIN correlation was made, proving that the firearm recovered did indeed shoot the rounds on the highway that struck the detective’s car.

With the NIBIN correlation, investigators were able to identify the offenders, make arrests, and close the case. Thanks to ShotSpotter’s precise identification of the gunshots fired on the highway, the entire process was concluded in hours instead of days.