Pandemic violence
Shootings in Hartford surge, police data show.
Hartford is experiencing a dramatic spike in nonfatal shootings, leaving police and community leaders scrambling to stanch bloodshed they suspect is inextricably linked to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
There have been 36 shootings with injuries over the past six weeks, more than double what Hartford experienced during the same period in any of the past three years, according to police data.
More than one-third of those shootings have involved more than one victim and many resulted in serious injuries.
Those numbers don’t include the fatal shootings of 24-year-old basketball standout Jaqhawn Walters and 21-yearold Alexis Ortiz just one day apart last month. While police have made an arrest in Walter’s slaying and in the vast majority of homicides in recent years, officials said gun assaults have proven more challenging to solve, making it difficult to pinpoint a cause for the recent spike.
Amajority of the violence is not related to drugs or gangs, Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody told The Courant Thursday. Instead, most of the incidents escalated from personal disputes among young people, prompting both Thody and Bronin to speculate that the violence has been fed by the widespread instability wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I don’t think we can point to any one thing that is causing an increase in shooting activity, but it is clear that some of the changes associated with the pandemic have had a cumulative effect, and we’re seeing that in other cities in Connecticut and across the country as well,” Thody said.
Most of the incidents have involved people in their late teens and early 20s, and many have been linked to auto thefts, which also have increased up this year, Thody said. Many victims and perpetrators alike have been arrested very recently but not processed by the courts, which have been hampered by limitations imposed during the COVID-19 crisis, Thody added.
“While the department has adjusted and increased enforcement efforts, the limited operations of many other judicial and criminal justice entities has made it difficult for these efforts to have a lasting impact,” he said. “We will continue to do everything we can to prevent and deter violence and to bring perpetrators to justice, which we have been particularly successful at this year.”
The recent spike builds on the alarming rise in violence Hartford saw in the first half of the year. Police data show 37% more shootings with injuries in the first six months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019, The Courant reported in July. Amid lasting shutdowns and limitations in education, work and entertainment, violence has continued to surge.
Hartford Care Response Team, a nonprofit program that supports victims of violent crime, reported that area hospitals have treated 312 shooting and stabbing victims through Aug. 31. On average, community groups have responded to support a new victim of violence every other day since January, said Andrew Woods, executive director of the response team’s parent organization, Hartford Communities That Care.
The northeast quadrant of the city has been most impacted by the increase, police Lt. Paul Cicero said.
Police data show half of the most recent 36 shootings occurred there, along with the Sept. 19 slaying of Walters at Main and Rosemont streets in the North End. Police have charged 33-year-old Jason Stone with murder in connection with the deadly altercation, allegedly sparked over a drug deal.
The last day of September was marked by a pair of unrelated shootings that played out simultaneously along Albany Avenue and injured three people. Police have responded to eight more shootings with injuries in the first week of October alone, raising red flags for officials and community advocates working to stem the tide.
“Groups of people, predominantly young people, are hanging out in less structured environments that are conducive to conflict escalation,” Thody said.
In normal times, he said, “a fight in a bar or nightclub is broken up by security, people are separated, the situation is deescalated, and usually one offender or group is thrown out. These controls are not present at the pop-up parties and informal gatherings we are seeing due to these more formal venues being closed.”
Bronin said he and the chief also have both advocated for the courts and parole and probation systems to return to normal operation as soon as possible.
“We saw in many cases, individuals whohad been arrested for serious crimes, violent crimes often not being held until their court dates, or being released at lower bonds with greater frequency,” Bronin said. “We’ve seen unlawful firearm possession cases being immediately released. I think that is a part of the disruption of this pandemic, and we can’t ignore it.”
Parole and probation supervision has been primarily virtual since the pandemic began, Bronin said, arguing that it “can’t be as effective” as in-person meetings.
Andrius Banevicius, spokesman for the state Department of Correction, said Thursday there has not been an increase in gun-related violence involving parolees in the Hartford area. However, with many nonfatal shootings unsolved, it’s unknown who was involved.
The rise in violence is not isolated to Hartford, however, with metropolitan cities across the state and country reporting increased shootings this year over last.
An unusually high number of shootings in Meriden rattled the community in August and September and two more menwere found shot to death in Meriden just last weekend. Meriden police have cracked down on illegal guns in the city and partnered with NewHavendetectives on the belief that the recent violence in both cities may be connected.
Bridgeport police seized 30 illegal weapons in September alone and made 20 related arrests, the department announced Thursday.