On Sunday January 8th, around 2:15pm, a stabbing occurred in the Big Y in Old Lyme.

Two men, Jing-Song Gao, 34, of Massachusetts, and Tan Lin, 40, of Old Lyme, were involved in the altercation. Gao was the sushi chef for the store at the time, and it is believed that Lin was also, or used to be, employed by the same sushi company. The two men allegedly began to argue about money, and as the argument escalated, the two men stabbed each other. It remains unclear, however, which man was the instigator of the altercation.

Jing-Song Gao was transported to Shoreline Medical Center in Westbrook, where he was pronounced dead, while Tan Lin was flown via LifeStar to the Yale New Haven hospital, suffering from serious injuries.

Big Y stayed closed for the remainder of Sunday, and was open again by Monday morning.

A student, who was working at Big Y on the day of the incident, but would prefer to remain anonymous, shared some details about the experience with us. The student stated that he was working at the front register when the altercation took place, and though he heard the argument between the men, he was unable to understand the content given the conversation was in Japanese. When he noted that the argument was getting violent, he states he “did what [he] normally [does] when something like that happens, stay safe or move away from the event”. When asked his thoughts on the event, he shared: “My thoughts are that this is Old Lyme, not New London, Not New Haven or Hartford, it isn’t Chicago or New York City, you know? Just let people live their lives … in peace.”

The death of Jing-Song Gao has not yet been ruled a murder; however, if it is this will be the first murder in Old Lyme since 2009.