Fears grow over possible retaliation Apparent link between two killings sparks worries of more violence
“As long as I’ve been doing this work, I can never recall feeling as powerless and afraid for the people in our community right now.”
HARTFORD — An apparent connection between the separate killings of a 3-year-old and a teenager in Hartford a week ago is fueling speculation of retaliation and a fear of continued violence among those who live in the area.
Several community members said heightened tensions are evident on the streets and on social media, where angry, threatening posts are mixed in with an outpouring of grief over the deaths of Randell Tarez Jones, 3, and Ja’Mari Preston, 16.
The two were shot and killed two hours and less than a mile apart April 10 in north Hartford.
“You can see the stuff on Facebook already coming. The battle started up there,” on social media, Carl Hardrick, of the Wilson-Gray YMCA and Community Safety Coalition, said this week.
“We don’t believe this is the end of it so we are very cautious,” a violence intervention specialist, whoasked to remain anonymous, said this week. “We are extremely cautious right now. There’s still people out there.
The shooters are still out there.”
Police are investigating and not saying much about the circumstances of the shootings. They have only said there are indications the two are linked. Most recently, twocars believed to be involved in the shootings were found burned in Hartford and South Windsor.
Three-year-old Randell was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting as he sat in a parked car with his mother, sisters and a person who police believe was the intended target at Nelson and Garden streets at about 2:25 p.m. April 10, police say.
Two hours later, Ja’Mari was killed when multiple suspects unleashed a barrage of bullets on a Magnolia Street backyard at about 4:45 p.m., striking the teen numerous times, according to police. Investigators found about 75 spent shell casings from multiple firearm, including a rifle, in the street.
Athird shooting Tuesday night injured a man in his 30s near Main and Nelson streets, a half-mile from the street corner where Randell was shot, but police have not said if they suspect it is connected.
But some people worry the Upper Albany and North End neighborhoods will be wracked with violent feuds in the wake of Randell and Ja’Mari’s deaths. The crisis intervention specialist pointed to the hail of bullets at the Magnolia Street scene.
“They came at him with some very serious firepower,” the specialist said.
“It’s a violent situation,” another source in the community said. “It’s one that’s not gonna go away with just time or whatever. “
Several community members say many people in the neighborhoods are scared to linger outside, and that violence prevention workers themselves are facingrisks as they try to calm tensions.
“As long as I’ve been doing this work, I can never recall feeling as powerless and afraid for the people in our community right now,” Andrew Woods, executive director of Hartford Communities That Care, said during a news conference with lawmakers on Wednesday. “We are raw right now. We are afraid right now. We are concerned for our own safety ... and everyone who of 3-year-old Randell Tarez Jones, who was in a car with his mother, two siblings and theshooter’sintendedtarget. Police said they have enough evidence to believe the two incidents are connected.
“There’s so many importhas to get up and contemplate whether they’re gonna come home safe at night, or at all.”
Hardrick, a longtime violence prevention worker whogoes by “Brother Carl”, has been giving more teens rides home the last few days because they feel safer crossing neighborhoods in his recognizable, navy blue Toyota Sienna than on foot or in their friends’ cars.
It’s something he said he used to do for Ja’Mari when the teen, most recently of NewBritain, lived on Clarke Street in the North End. “They don’t know who’s coming down the streets,” Hardrick said.
Inia David, a mother of three who lives on Magnolia Street, was shocked by the death of the 3-year-old last weekend, though she ant parts to these homicides, [and] what’simportantisthat we make sure that we don’t release anything that would jeopardizetheinvestigation,” Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody said. “We’re being overly cautious to make sure says she and her kids hear gunfire frequently. It scares her 10-year-old son, who has autism, and sends him running to his bedroom in the back of the house.
“He says ‘Mommy, that was gunshots, hide, hide,’” David said.
To stay safe, she doesn’t go out unless she needs to. And in the wake of the shootings last weekend, she’s hoping to move up her plans to leave Hartford for a safer community, like West Hartford. Her son wants out, too, and dreams of growing up to help her.
“He’s like, ‘Ma, I’m gonna get you out of here,’ “David said. “‘You’re not gonna live here.’ “ we can get what we need before werelease it.”
The investigation into the twoshootingsremainsongoing.