Dennis Atkinson, a 40-year-old Black man from New Haven, Connecticut, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of Monday, August 18, 2025. Police responded to a ShotSpotter alert and found Atkinson around 4:44 a.m. at the intersection of Ferry and River Streets in the Fair Haven neighborhood with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital and pronounced dead.

New Haven Police Department Major Crimes detectives opened a homicide investigation, canvassed the area, and asked witnesses to come forward. Preliminary findings indicate the shooting followed an argument and was not believed to be random. No suspects have been publicly identified and no arrests in this killing have been announced as of the fall of 2025. A separate, non-fatal shooting hours later on Shelton Avenue was ruled unrelated and resulted in an arrest.

If anyone was in the Ferry and River Streets area that morning or has information about the argument or the shooting, please share what is known with investigators.