August 17th, 2025. Just before 3:00 a.m., chaos erupted in the heart of downtown New Haven. A fight that began near Temple Street spilled onto College Street where multiple gunmen opened fire. More than 20 shell casings littered the street as bullets struck parked cars and innocent people scrambled for cover.
When the gunfire ended, 18-year-old Dylan Cornelius lay mortally wounded. Investigators say he had returned fire before being struck in the head and neck. At first, it looked like another deadly downtown shooting. But weeks later, an arrest warrant revealed something much bigger. For the first time, New Haven police publicly disclosed that local, state, and federal investigators had already been investigating a group known as Stand on Business or SOB.
The warrant identified Dylan Cornelius and Wayed Johnson Jr. as members or associates of that group. Until then, the name Stand on Business had never been publicly introduced as the focus of a multi-agency investigation. What investigators would eventually uncover stretched back years. Welcome to another episode of Street Scene Diaries.
When most people think of New Haven, they think of Yale University, world-famous Apizza, and one of Connecticut’s most historic cities. But behind the college campus, nationally recognized restaurants, and busy downtown, another story was unfolding. For years, New Haven had been caught in an escalating cycle of gang violence involving multiple rival groups.
Shootings and retaliation had become increasingly common, and by the mid-2020s, violence was no longer confined to individual neighborhoods. One shooting in particular would eventually prove far more significant than anyone realized at the time. In the early morning hours of August 17th, 2025, Dylan Cornelius was killed during a gun battle in the heart of downtown New Haven.
At first, it appeared to be another tragic act of violence in a city that had seen far too many. But, investigators would later reveal that the shooting was connected to a much larger investigation that had already been underway for years. To understand how New Haven reached that point, we first have to understand one of the groups investigators say played a major role in the city’s gang violence.
[screaming] According to federal prosecutors, Stand on Business, better known as SOB, had been operating in New Haven since at least 2019. The group originated in New Haven’s Hill neighborhood, an area long associated with gang rivalries and violent crime. Over the years, members and associates also use other names, including Get Back Gang, GBG, and EBK.
Investigators allege the group developed ongoing rivalries with Exit 8, SLB, the Threes, and other crews throughout New Haven. As those rivalries intensified, retaliation became increasingly common. Shootings that may have once been isolated incidents evolved into an ongoing cycle of violence affecting neighborhoods across the city.
According to investigators, one of the earliest killings connected to that conflict occurred during the summer of 2020. Hamden police have identified the victim as 22-year-old Keymar Tanner. On July 18th, 2020, 22-year-old Keymar Tanner was shot and killed in Hamden. Federal prosecutors allege members of Stand on Business mistakenly believed Tanner was affiliated with the rival Exit 8 gang and targeted him based on that mistaken identity.
But Kemar Tanner was more than another homicide victim. He was known to be a close friend of Jericho Scott, another young man whose death became part of New Haven’s growing cycle of violence. His family would also endure unimaginable tragedy. Kemar’s aunt, Sierra “CC” Jones-Whitfield, was devastated by his death.
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Family members said she took the loss so hard that she even renamed her Facebook page after her nephew. Less than a year later, CC herself would be murdered. As covered in my previous documentary on Exit 8, federal prosecutors alleged members of Exit 8 killed CC after she released a diss track aimed at the gang.
The violence was no longer affecting only rival gang members. Entire families were being torn apart. But the bloodshed didn’t stop there. Less than a year after Kemar Tanner’s death, another young man lost his life. On May 30th, 2021, 21-year-old Samaj Reddicks Streeter was shot and killed outside the Minute Mart convenience store on Circular Avenue in Hamden.
Authorities alleged he was targeted because of his association with SLB, another New Haven gang involved in the city’s ongoing rivalries. The killing marked another deadly chapter in an increasingly violent conflict that was claiming more lives throughout New Haven and Hamden. Unlike many of the other killings tied to this conflict, this case eventually resulted in a conviction when Lamont Reed pleaded guilty in state court for his role in the murder.
But even with an arrest, the violence didn’t stop. Within less than a year, two young men had already been killed, families on both sides have been devastated, and New Haven’s gang war was only becoming more violent. One deadly shooting happened just steps away from Yale’s campus. Pinpoint News Tracker shows us where it happened, right on College Street.
And that’s where we find your reporter, Matt McFarland, who is live now with the very latest. Matt? Oh, Nicole and Mark, College Street a big part of downtown New Haven’s heart. You’ve got bars, restaurants, shops, entertainment, but uh yesterday, early yesterday morning, this was part of a large crime scene down here.
And you know, a teenager was shot and killed. Police tell us though, while their investigation is progressing, they’ll also be upping their presence down here. By the summer of 2025, the violence had spread far beyond neighborhood streets. In the early morning hours of August 17th, 2025, hundreds of people were leaving bars and clubs in downtown New Haven when an argument broke out near Temple Street.
What started as a fight quickly spilled onto nearby College Street. According to investigators, members of two rival groups confronted one another in the middle of the street. Surveillance video reviewed by police allegedly shows the confrontation escalating within seconds. Investigators say an unidentified gunman fired first, striking Waye Johnson Jr.
As Johnson fell to the ground, police allege Dylan Cornelius pulled out a handgun and returned fire toward the shooter. The exchange quickly escalated. According to investigators, the original gunman fired back, while two additional men also began shooting, turning the confrontation into a chaotic gun battle in the middle of downtown.
By the time the gunfire stopped, investigators had recovered more than 20 shell casings scattered across College Street. Several parked vehicles had been struck by bullets, and another person later arrived at a local hospital suffering from a gunshot wound after fleeing the scene. Dylan Cornelius had been struck in the head and neck.
He was pronounced dead shortly afterward. But investigators say the violence didn’t end there. According to the arrest warrant, surveillance footage allegedly showed Wade Johnson Jr. returning to Cornelius after the shooting and removing a handgun from his body before leaving the scene. Police later charged Johnson with evidence tampering and several firearm-related offenses.
As detectives continued piecing together the events of that night, another name emerged. Police later arrested Kareem Dixon, identifying him as someone they believed had ties to Stand on Business. During that arrest, investigators recovered a Glock pistol equipped with extended magazines.
Then came the revelation that changed the public’s understanding of the case. When New Haven police released the arrest warrant, investigators disclosed that local, state, and federal authorities had already been investigating a group known as Stand on Business, or SOB, before Dylan Cornelius was ever killed.
The warrant identified both Cornelius and Wade Johnson Jr. as members or associates of the group. For the first time, the public learned that the shooting on College Street wasn’t viewed by investigators as an isolated act of violence. It had become part of a much larger investigation that had already been unfolding behind the scenes for years.
And if a talking, we going clear his face. And yeah, we keep them switches. If they play, then we going leave a stain. And yes, kid, I ain’t never been the type to play. Real soldier, I’m going to him sleeping any day. And yeah, I still don’t business. I ain’t been a type to say Yeah.
that I don’t lie because I lie every day. Y’all still don’t do Y’all took on Kayden name, I might just reap the full clip. We could get them going anytime we want, But I can’t find them, I ain’t even got front, I’ll be on every block and [singing] I don’t get touched, Like why y’all say I ran when y’all came with a ton, These they just need a whole crowd, But when they by they self, they hear that clip blow, But when they by they
self, they hear that clip blow, You say you TRB but I’ll put blow, He said he going to take my chain and I still got it on. And I’ve been a real ever since I was born. And I’m EBK. I think y’all know that We catch your opp, light him up for all that trolling We catch your opp, light him up for all that jumping And we got back but I can’t say what little stepper did.
Despite arrests in earlier cases, the violence surrounding New Haven’s gang rivalries showed no signs of slowing down. By 2025, another young man connected to the Hill had become the latest victim. According to social media posts reviewed during my research, Kayden Phillips publicly associated himself with EBK, one of the names investigators say was used by members and associates of Stand Up Business.
Videos that circulated online also appeared to show Kayden involved in physical confrontations before his death. While police have not publicly identified those videos as being directly connected to the homicide, they later confirmed there had been a prior incident involving Kayden and another youth months before he was killed.
New Haven police make an arrest in the shooting death of a 15-year-old by the name of Kayden Phillips but they’re not releasing the person’s name because the shooter is only 13. News 8’s Ken Houston is in the control room with more on this. Ken? Well, hi there, Ann. Not only is this crime shocking but so is the fact that the shooter is only 13 years old.
Police say thanks to community involvement, they managed to catch the person responsible. On September 27, 2025, Kayden Phillips was shot and killed in Hamden. According to investigators, the shooting stemmed from a dispute between Kayden and another teenager. Police later arrested a 13-year-old in connection with the homicide and said the two knew one another and had a history of conflict.
Although authorities have not publicly linked Kayden’s murder to the federal Stand on Business investigation, his death reflected the same pattern that had come to define New Haven’s gang violence. Ongoing disputes between young people that too often ended with gunfire instead of fists. For many in the community, Kayden Phillips’ death served as another reminder that the cycle of retaliation and violence surrounding the Hill and its rival groups had not come to an end.
Breaking news right now in New Haven. That’s where police are investigating a shooting that injured three people this afternoon. PinPoint News Tracker shows you where this happened. It’s right near Woodward Avenue and Pope Street. Your reporter Matt McFarland covers New Haven County.
He’s live at the scene with everything we’ve learned. Matt. Well, hi there Cassidy. You can see all the police cruisers and the crime tape out here in front. Number of police officers here. New Haven Chief David Zinnelli, he is here as well. Here on the scene Even after years of arrests, investigations, and high-profile prosecutions, the violence that had plagued New Haven still hadn’t disappeared.
On June 22, 2026, gunfire erupted outside the Fort Hale Gardens condominium complex on Woodward Avenue in broad daylight. According to investigators, two groups who knew each other confronted one another before shots rang out. When the shooting ended, Jaiden Martinez, 20, of Ansonia, and Malakai Caraballo, 18, of New Haven, had been killed.
A third man survived with gunshot wounds. The victims were able to leave the scene before police arrived, eventually reaching separate hospitals where Martinez and Caraballo were later pronounced dead. Detectives recovered ballistic evidence at Fort Hill Gardens and quickly determined the shooting was targeted rather than random.
Police said the confrontation stemmed from a dispute between two groups who already knew one another. While investigators acknowledged the groups had an existing conflict, they stopped short of publicly describing the shooting as gang-related, saying the dispute appeared to be highly localized and that the motive remained under investigation.
Whether it was the murders of Keymar Tanner and Savvas Redding Streeter, the downtown killing of Dylan Cornelius, the death of Keaton Phillips, or now another daylight double homicide, one thing had become clear. For years, New Haven had been trapped in a cycle of retaliation and violence that continued to claim young lives.
As investigators pieced together shootings spanning multiple years, they weren’t looking at these incidents as isolated events anymore. They believed they were uncovering something much larger. For years, New Haven residents watched shootings, murders, and retaliation unfold across the city. To many, they appeared to be isolated incidents connected only by an ongoing gang problem.
But behind the scenes, investigators from the New Haven Police Department, the FBI, the ATF, the DEA, Hamden Police, the Connecticut Department of Correction, and the US Attorney’s Office were building what prosecutors describe as a much larger case. According to federal prosecutors, those acts of violence were not random.
Investigators allege they were part of a criminal enterprise known as Stand on Business or SOB, which they say had been operating in New Haven since at least 2019. On June 17th, 2026, a federal grand jury returned a 19-count indictment charging 16 alleged members and associates of Stand on Business with racketeering conspiracy and numerous related offenses.
Prosecutors allege the enterprise was responsible for murders, attempted murders, drug trafficking, firearms offenses, and other crimes committed over several years. Investigators allege the organization operated under multiple names, including Stand on Business, Get Back Gang, and EBK, and engaged in an ongoing pattern of violence against rival groups throughout New Haven.
According to prosecutors, the investigation brought together years of surveillance footage, search warrants, ballistics evidence, social media posts, seized firearms, witness statements, and other evidence that investigators say connected what had long appeared to be separate acts of violence into a single criminal enterprise.
It’s also worth noting that this story may not be over. The recent Fort Hale Gardens triple shooting occurred only days before the federal indictment was announced and remains under investigation. Because of the timing, it was not part of the charges outlined in this case.
Since the shooting, rumors and theories have spread throughout New Haven and across social media, particularly on Reddit, with many people debating what may have motivated the attack. Some believe it may have been retaliation connected to the same rivalry as discussed throughout this documentary, while others have offered different explanations.
At this time, however, those are only community theories. Investigators have not publicly announced a motive or confirmed any connection between the Fort Hale Gardens shooting and the Stand on Business investigation. As more information becomes available, I’ll continue following the case and provide updates here on Street Scene Diaries.
Finally, it’s important to remember that a federal indictment contains allegations, not convictions. Every defendant charged in this case is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. This has been another episode of Street Scene Diaries. If you think stories like this deserve to be told, leave a comment below.
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Disclaimer : This content may be created by AI for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.
