After a round-the-clock investigation and with the help of Internet social networks, police have arrested a male juvenile and charged him with felony murder in the shooting death of James Dudley, who was .
Chief Thomas Wydra made the announcement Monday afternoon with Dudley's family by his side.
The juvenile, whose age or other identifying information wasn't released, is charged with one count of felony murder, unlawful discharge of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit, Wydra said.
He is being held at the Juvenile Detention Center in Bridgeport, Wydra said, and it's not yet know in which court his case will be adjudicated.
Officers and detectives worked around the clock since Saturday night to solve the crime, Wydra said.
"We got great support from the community, which was crucial in this investigation," he said.
Dudley, 23, of 110 East Gate Lane, was shot several times by his car after reportedly getting into an argument with the shooter and possibly other people.
Wydra said the investigation in ongoing and more arrests are possible.
"This is an active, ongoing investigation and we are hopeful that there will be more developments," he said.
"The investigation took us into the social networking world," he said, but declined to say which social network played a role in identifying the suspect. "Social media helped point us in the right direction."
One of the most important aspects of any criminal investigation is timing, Wydra said, which is something of which his department is well aware and why police went to work immediately Saturday night on solving the murder.
"When investigating any crime, it's crucial to get your feet on the ground in the first 24 hours -- after that, you lose that solvability, and we recognize that," he said.
"The community played a big role in this investigation," he said. "You're not able to get these kinds of results with the community assisting us."
Investigators are fairly certain that Dudley and the person who killed him were at least acquainted, Wydra said, and police are trying to determine whether their meeting that night was prearranged or by chance.
"We are fairly certain that they knew each other, though it may have been short in duration," he said.
It's also still under investigation whether the shooting might have been drug or gang related, he said.
