A woman is dead and a man is injured after a shooting early Friday morning in Hartford and police believe they were both unintended targets.
According to police, at approximately 12:50 a.m., officers were dispatched to 40 Cleveland Ave. for reports of a shooting. There were officers reportedly already in the area at the time of the call because of extra units for the holiday.
When they arrived, officers located two victims, a female and male both in their 20s, suffering from gunshot wounds.
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The female victim was unresponsive at the scene. She was transported to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. She has been identified as 23-year-old Shamyria Williams, of Hartford.
The male victim was alert and conscious at the scene and was also transported to the hospital.
Police said they believe two groups of people were shooting at each other on Cleveland Ave. Investigators said the female and male who were shot were stuck in a packed street and were unintended targets.
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"Poor girl lost her life, she had nothing to do with any of this so very saddening, disturbing, shouldn't have happened. it happened," said Hartford Police Lt. Aaron Boisvert.
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam released a statement about the shooting Friday saying:
"These recent, tragic instances of gun violence underscore the need to curb the cycles of trauma in our City by removing illegal guns from our streets and implementing a robust violence prevention strategy including partners throughout our city," said Mayor Arulampalam. "Investigations into the Cleveland Avenue and Seymour Street shootings are active and ongoing, and we ask anyone who has information to call the HPD Tip Line at 860-722-TIPS (8477)."
Three people of interest have been identified and investigators have already spoken to a few of them. The investigation is active and ongoing.
Friday morning's deadly shooting is Hartford's 10th homicide this year. Boisvert said Hartford is down 33 percent in homicides this year compared to last year.
Two men were also injured in a shooting on Seymour Street late Thursday night. That shooting does not appear to be connected to this one.
