Recovery continues for Fairfield student Clinton Chizinski who was shot in a Westport home on Nov. 12.
After a night out in South Norwalk celebrating a friend’s 21 birthday, Chizinski and a friend accepted a ride back from two young men to a friend’s Westport home. When they arrived, they invited the two young men inside to hang out for a while.
“Normally you worry about girls getting rides home from people they just met,” Chizinski said. “The two seemed normal and said they were going our way anyway, so we took the ride.”
For a while everything was fine. The other ten people at the house were listening to music, playing video games and having a good time. The two men went outside to have a cigarette.
When they came back in, one of them, 22-year-old Staten Island resident Brian Mincieli, was holding a gun. He demanded that those present give him their wallets, cell phones and other valuables.
“Clint was in the kitchen in the back of the house and heard it get quiet,” said Bill Ryan, a Fairfield senior that was also at the party. “He looked out and saw the guy holding the gun, and ran out through the back door and around the house to the front.”
Chizinski says he and another female friend ran out the back door. He told her to hide under a car and gave her his cell phone and money. He told her to stay there and call the police.
According to Chizinski, his thoughts were only of his friends.
“He was shaking and yelling,” Chizinski said. “I saw him pointing the gun at my friends and I was like, ‘I’m taking this guy down now.’ Those are my best friends and there was no way I could just let it happen.”
He snuck onto the adjacent porch and tackled Mincieli. A struggle ensued and Chizinski was shot twice. His friends jumped to help him to subdue Mincieli and prevent further harm to Chizinski.
“I didn’t even realize I was shot at first,” Chizinski said. “I backed off the shooter and stumbled outside. I felt like I’d had the wind knocked out of me; I was having trouble breathing. Then I looked down and saw the blood.”
The first bullet entered his abdomen and exited through his back, narrowly missing Chizinski’s spine. The second bullet lodged in one of his ribs, cracking it in the process. The trigger was pulled a third time, but the bullet jammed in the chamber.
As his friends turned to check on Chizinski, Mincieli fled. The second man had already run.
“I was still conscious when the police called my parents,” he said. “I talked to my mom and told her I’d been shot and that I was on my way to the hospital.”
Three hours later Mincieli was apprehended. He spent four days in the hospital as a result of injuries sustained during the struggle to get the gun away from him.
The charges against Mincieli are assault with a deadly weapon, robbery in the first degree, alteration of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, use of a firearm in a class A felony, unlawful discharge of a firearm, and criminal use of a weapon.
Chizinski spent a week in the hospital and underwent major surgery to remove the bullet and repair muscle damage.
This incident is most recent in the series in which Fairfield students have found themselves in harm’s way, and school officials encourage students to stay safe.
“Students need to be careful and exercise good judgment,” said Dean of Students Mark Reed. “It doesn’t always prevent accidents or tragedies, but it certainly can reduce the odds of something negative happening.”
Chizinski said Fairfield has handled his situation well. He expressed gratitude for cards, flowers, and phone calls from students, faculty and administrators.
“Everyone from school has been really awesome,” Chizinski said. “They’ve all been so understanding and helpful.”
Chizinski is now recovering at his home in Wilton.
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