Fatal Hartford shootings
Ex-city hoops star Hartford’s 2nd homicide victim in two days.
A former star basketball player at Albertus Magnus College was shot and killed Saturday afternoon on Main Street, making it the second daytime homicide in less than 24 hours in Hartford.
Jaqhawn Walters, 24, was pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital after an apparent fight turned deadly shortly after noon in front of 3385 Main Street. Police said Walters was driven to the hospital by friends.
Meanwhile, as police were responding to the hospital and to the shooting scene, Jason Stone called the police station and told the dispatcher he had just shot someone. Stone, also of Hartford, then drove to the police station and was arrested. Police said a firearm was recovered from his vehicle, which is suspected as being the weapon utilized in the shooting.
Surveillance video was located and secured by patrol officers at 3395 Main Street. The video shows a brief physical encounter between the suspect and victim, followed by the shooting. Stone, 33, was charged with one count of murder.
Walters was a star player at University High School of Science and Engineering before going to Albertus Magnus and earning all-conference honors three times. Walters finished his college career with 1,821 points and 1,167 rebounds and last year signed a contract to play professionally for a club in Argentina.
The homicide was the second in Hartford in two days.
A 21-year-old Hartford man was fatally shot Friday morning outside a home on Fairfield Avenue just after 11 a.m., police said.
Alexis Ortiz was transported to Hartford Hospital but died 45 minutes later, according to Hartford police Lt. Paul Cicero.
The shooting in the southwest neighborhood prompted lockdowns at two nearby schools and a day care as the city’s tactical Emergency Response Team responded to clear a home that several potential suspects had retreated into, Cicero said.
The two fatal shootings now leave Hartford with 18 homicides this year.
The city’s ShotSpotter gunshot detection system registered three separate activations Friday at 11:04 a.m. on Fairfield Avenue, and police believe about 11 rounds were fired.
The first police officer on the scene Friday was off-duty patrol Officer Kiana Walker, who has been with the department for just 18 months, Cicero said. She was on her way to a private duty assignment in the area when she heard the gunshots and got out of her car to canvass the area.
A civilian who had found Ortiz on the ground near the multifamily home at 267 Fairfield Ave. called Walker over to help, and she saw at least one possible suspect retreat into that home, Cicero said. Ortiz had multiple gunshot wounds.