A 17-year-old boy has become Bridgeport’s fourth homicide victim of the year, according to police. Romain Sterling, of Bridgeport, died at the hospital on Wednesday, one week after he was critically shot on the West Side.

“The department offers its condolences to the family of Romain Sterling and his friends for their loss,” said Capt. Kevin Gilleran.

On April 10, just before 7 p.m., Bridgeport police responded to the same stretch of Park Avenue that was a hotbed for gun violence last year and found Sterling shot in the head. Police blocked off the area from Laurel Avenue to Wood Avenue as detectives collected evidence. Gilleran said so far, there have been no arrests in what’s now a homicide case.

“There's a lot of technology in that neighborhood, and the Bridgeport police department has developed several leads since the tenth, but we're still looking for the public's assistance on tracking down those suspects and additional information,” Gilleran stated. It's a situation all too familiar to people who live in that neighborhood. From May through August last year, police responded to a fatal stabbing and numerous shootings, one of them deadly. On Aug. 22, security cameras captured the chaos as multiple people opened fire. Police said they shot over 30 rounds, hitting three people. Two of them were innocent bystanders.

News 12 spoke with one the day after, a man who asked not to be identified. He was shot in the face inside his home when a bullet went through the front door. “I couldn't even believe it. Everything slowed down after that. Everything went slow motion. I feel blessed that I'm alive," he said. The increased violence led to a police operation called "Take Back Park Ave" which resulted in six arrests. Police told News 12 it had been much quieter there before this shooting. “We did a roundup, and it ceased until most recently,” Gilleran said. “We haven’t seen any activity over there regarding gun violence in quite some time.”

Police don't want a return to last summer and have taken action to try and prevent that, according to Gilleran.

“The chief of police has stepped up patrols in that area so you're going to see a large uniform presence out there going forward,” he stated. Anyone with information on last week’s shooting is asked to call the anonymous tip line, 203-576-TIPS.

“We're looking to get closure in this case. I'm not going to give you a timeline on it, but I think it's going to be sooner than later,” Gilleran told News 12.