NEW HAVEN — A 40-year-old man apparently picked the wrong person to try to rob at knife point Monday and ended up at the hospital with two gunshot wounds to the chest, police said.
As the alleged would-be robber lay wounded, his intended victim called 911.
The incident occurred shortly after 1 p.m. on Wooster Place just outside Columbus Park in the Wooster Square neighborhood.
RELATED STORY: Would-be robber shot in Wooster Square (video)
The shooting victim, tentatively identified by a source as Hector Santiago, 40, is expected to recover, and was speaking to police. The shooter, who police said is 65 and from out of town, waited at the scene for officers to arrive and was brought to police headquarters to be interviewed. He was later released, police said.
Police recovered a small knife at the scene, not far from the shooter’s discarded umbrella.
Cecilia Dougherty, who lives on Chapel Street facing the park, heard gunshots.
“I thought, ‘No, that can’t be.’ Then 30 seconds later I see all the police,” she said. “It’s pretty scary in the middle of the day in Wooster Square.”
There was some reassurance that the victim apparently was defending himself.
Even so, she added, “If you’re walking your dog, for example, you don’t expect the person next to you to have a gun — for any reason.”
The park is a popular destination and often is teeming with dogs and their socializing owners in the afternoon and evening. It’s the city’s Little Italy section, known for its iconic pizza and Italian cuisine.
Lt. Rebecca Sweeney-Burns, the police supervisor for the area, said preliminary indications were that the man was shot when he attempted to rob the shooter.
Police spokesman Joe Avery added that the man brandished a knife, and that’s when his intended victim pulled out a gun. The shooter is licensed to carry the weapon, police said, and there was no information on any charges.
It all occurred across the street from the Polly McCabe Center, a transitional high school, and just yards from St. Michael’s Church, which has overlooked the 4-acre park for 150 years.
Clinicians from the Yale Child Study Center responded to offer counseling to any Polly McCabe students who might have seen the incident. One teacher did, and was taken to police headquarters to give a statement.
With Wooster Place closed, neighbor Jane Lederer, who is active with the block watch, surveyed the crime scene while walking her dog.
“It was astonishing how huge of a police response there was,” she said, estimating that as many as two dozen marked and unmarked vehicles responded to the scene.
Rob Deffendall, who lives on nearby Greene Street, said he heard shots, but it initially didn’t register with him that they could be gunfire.
Lederer and Deffendall said the area isn’t entirely insulated from crime, but nothing of Monday’s magnitude. There are periodic muggings and car break-ins, both said.
Deffendall said some residents have been talking about creating an informal night patrol, when flashlight carrying block watch members would keep an eye on the neighborhood.
“At night, you have to watch yourself, but during the day, this is the last thing you expect,” he said.
I love it…Bet the BG won’t do that again…
Deffendall said some residents have been talking about creating an informal night patrol, when flashlight carrying block watch members would keep an eye on the neighborhood.
My advice: Don’t bring a flashlight to a knife fight! 
Buckaroo
Cecilia Dougherty, who lives on Chapel Street facing the park, heard gunshots.
“I thought, ‘No, that can’t be.’ Then 30 seconds later I see all the police,” she said. “It’s pretty scary in the middle of the day in Wooster Square.”
There was some reassurance that the victim apparently was defending himself.
Even so, she added, “If you’re walking your dog, for example, you don’t expect the person next to you to have a gun — for any reason.”
Ignorant yankee bitch.
Unfortunately, you can hear the same thing to one degree or another all over the country. So while I agree with your first and last words, your middle word is simply racist! 
Since when is “Yankee” a race and how did his statement convey any racial superiority? Most people misuse the term raciest. Generally when most use it they really mean bigoted. Yes semantics are important, proper use of language is how we communicate with the fewest amount of misunderstandings.
Which is exactly why I parodied it. Lighten up - it was a joke, hence the smiley. Sorry you didn’t get it.
A parody (pronounced /ˈpærədiː/; also called send-up or spoof), in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation.
There are periodic muggings and car break-ins, both said.
Hmmm…two other phrases for muggings in my state are Robbery 2nd Degree AKA Strongarm Robbery or Robbery 1st Degree and Armed Criminal Action if a weapon or deadly instrument was used or implied…They have a lot more crime than what they think they do…except one criminal is done and off the field for a while.
Gotcha, I tend to not pick up on jokes in print:o That is funny
But my flashlight has a .40 caliber handle. 
Well then, “carry” on!
Buckaroo