Police seize pistol with filed-off serial number in Bridgeport

An undercover investigation in Bridgeport netted the seizure of an illegal handgun Wednesday morning, police say.

The state police gang task force and local officers raided 1335 Park Ave., in the Hollow section of the city, to execute a search warrant for a first-floor apartment. There they seized a 9 mm pistol with a filed-off serial number. Without the number, authorities say the gun may be difficult to trace.

Police say there have been more homicides this year than at the same time in 2016.

Chief AJ Perez, of the Bridgeport Police Department, says the raid also led to two arrests as authorities try to crack down on gang violence in the neighborhood.

"Any time I get one of these guns off the street, that means that gun is not going to hurt someone out here," Perez says.

Elsewhere in Hollow, April Barron was posting flyers and hoping witnesses would come forward in connection to her son's shooting death in 2006.

"I know firsthand how dangerous guns can be out on the street, because I lost my son," Barron says.

Police say her son, Iroquois Alston, was shot to death alongside his friend, Rickita Smalls, as they sat in a parked car two blocks away from Wednesday's raid. They are offering a $50,000 reward for information on that case.

Authorities say they've seized other guns in the neighborhood and plan to make additional arrests.