Hartford police are investigating an early Saturday morning shooting on Mary Shepard Place that left one person dead, as well as another that happened that night, marking the eighth and ninth homicides this year in the capital city.
Police responded to the area of 602 Mary Shepard Place just before 3 a.m. Saturday.
They found Michael Clahar, 28, of Hartford, in the parking lot suffering from a single gunshot wound to the head.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police ruled the fatal shooting a homicide.
Detectives from the Major Crimes Division are on scene investigating. The investigation could last through the end of the weekend, police said.
One of the questions is whether the victim was shot and left to die in the parking lot outside the Mary Shepard housing complex where he was found or whether he was shot somewhere else and brought there.
"We are trying to develop leads at this point," Hartford Police Deputy Chief Brian Foley said.
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While police said this was an isolated incident and that the victim was targeted, neighbors are still shaken by the shooting.
“I’m scared for my kids because they go outside, my son go outside for work in the morning, go through here, and it’s very dangerous,” said one neighbor who wished to remain anonymous.
It wasn’t always this way. Residents said before a shooting last month outside a nearby community center, this was a rather calm neighborhood.
“It’s always been a quiet area, no problems, very secluded. We always come hang out in the back. Now we can’t. Not even in the front, because of whatever’s going on,” explained Frances Robles.
They worry about another shooting, as they see their home turned into a crime scene.
“This needs to stop. Our kids need to have peace and calm, and we can’t have that if this keeps going on,” Robles added.
Police are also investigating another shooting homicide that happened within 24 hours. A 27-year-old man named Rashad Collier, of West Hartford, was shot dead on a sidewalk near George and South streets in Hartford Saturday night.
Police plan on releasing more information on both shootings Sunday and neither victim has been identified.
