New London — An early Monday morning shooting near Elm Street and Garfield Avenue left a 27-year-old city man dead, police said.

Police identified the man as Joshua Fine of 156 Bank St. 

Police were called to the scene at 1:04 a.m. and said they found Fine lying on the ground with a gunshot wound. First responders administered first aid and took Fine to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Standing outside his Garfield Avenue home Monday morning, a man — he said he would rather not be named given the nature of the situation — described what he experienced earlier Monday.

He had just gotten home from work and was preparing to eat when he heard a ruckus outside around 12:30 a.m. When he looked through a window, he saw from six to eight men fighting across the street, near the American Legion.

The man said the fight seemed to be dying down when he heard "a couple of gunshots."

With a wife and a young child at home, he decided not to venture outside. He said he believed the deceased was on Elm Street, and as such he couldn't see anything else from his Garfield Avenue home.

The man said he knows of Fine because a friend of his is a relative of Fine's. He acknowledged that Fine had run into issues with the law but said "there are a lot of bad people around here and (Fine) wasn't one of them."

According to state judicial records, Fine had 13 convictions dating back to 2009 for offenses such as possession of narcotics with intent to sell, larceny, violation of a protective order and reckless endangerment. He was on probation at the time of his death. Last week in New London he was arrested and charged with selling crack cocaine and then leading police on a car chase in which he struck multiple vehicles.

The neighborhood was quiet Monday morning, with one man working on his truck and another shoveling the sidewalk. Both said they weren't in the area when the shooting occurred.

A sliver of police tape attached to a pole at Garfield and Elm initially was all that indicated anything had happened.

By the afternoon, the tape had blown away and a small shrine had popped up in front of a garage near the scene. A few lit candles stood there, some of which were wrapped with bandannas.

Friends and family of Fine gathered on Elm Street early Monday evening to reminisce about a man they acknowledged may have been involved in some illegal activity but always looked out for his friends and family.

"He wasn't perfect. But he's 'Tiger.' He's my son," said Fine's mother, Janice Blow, using her son’s nickname.

Blow was in tears and being consoled by other family members.

"He was a very giving person. He had a big heart. He was always smiling and dancing. He went to church every Sunday," said Fine's older sister, Amber Blow.

"He lived the life he lived but he did it for them," she said while pointing toward friends and family. "That's what Josh did most was take care of family.”

Blow, who now lives in Vermont, said Fine was one of nine children and the youngest of the boys. Money he earned took care of his mother, she said, “and now he’s gone and she doesn’t know what to do.”

“I was trying to get him out of here. Everyone here is a product of their environment. Josh was no exception. I got away because of this. This is just how people are out here. This is how things get handled. Which is the sad part of all of this,” she said.

Officers, who canvassed the area overnight, notified the New London State’s Attorney’s Office and the state Chief Medical Examiner’s Office of the death.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at (860) 447-1481 or by anonymously texting “NLPDTip” plus the information to 847411.

Day Staff Writer Greg Smith contributed to this report