A 17-year-old New Haven resident was shot and killed four blocks from Ezra Stiles College on Saturday.

After reports of gunshots in the area, New Haven Police Department officers found Vashun Lewis with a gunshot wound to the chest outside of 229 Goffe St. in Dixwell at approximately 12:15 p.m. After he was taken to the hospital, Lewis died of his injuries. NHPD Spokesman Joseph Avery said in a press release that the department has begun to investigate the incident, and is currently pursuing several leads.

[ydn-legacy-photo-inline id=”4262″ ]

Lewis is the 11th murder victim of the year.

Five of 2011’s victims were involved in two incidents — three deaths were in an arson and two in a domestic homicide. Although these types of death are investigated by the police, there is little that a patrol department can do to prevent them, NHPD Chief Frank Limon said on Thursday.

As for the gang-related incidents, Limon said that the NHPD has begun to develop a computer database of murders, shootings and robberies. He said this computer database will eventually be able to determine patterns that will allow for better patrol schemes.

New Haven saw 10 homicides from Jan. 1 through the end of March. This represents a 66 percent increase from the same time in 2010, which itself saw a significant increase in murders from the year before.

Although the number of murder victims have gone up significantly since last year, overall shootings in 2011 through March were only two higher than the same time in 2010.