HARTFORD — A Newbury Street resident shot at two men — hitting one — after they menaced him, rammed his car and pulled a gun on him early Saturday, police said.
The wounded suspect was hospitalized and the other was charged with several crimes.
The Newbury Street man who fired the shots is considered a victim and will not be charged, police said. He was not injured, and had a valid permit for his pistol, according to investigators.
The man, a National Guard staff sergeant who requested his name not be used to protect him and his family, tells FOX Connecticut he was driving on his street around 2:20 a.m. when he came across two cars blocking the road.
He honked, and the two other drivers “became upset and approached … in a confrontational manner,” according to a police report.
The man, who says he served in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007 as a member of the Guard’s 102nd Infantry Regiment, says he felt threatened.
The resident told them he didn’t want trouble, and both drivers briefly left but then returned and drove toward his car. One, Edwin Franqui, rammed the Newbury Street man’s car head-on, while the other, Leanardo Vasquez, pulled alongside the man and aimed a gun at him, according to police.
The resident pulled out his own pistol and fired several shots; one struck Vasquez, police said. Vasquez, 23, ran off and was later admitted to a hospital and listed in stable condition, according to police. Franqui, 22, was arrested by arriving officers and charged with failing to drive in the proper lane, driving with a suspended license and failing to carry a license. Police said he later damaged a door at police headquarters and was charged with criminal mischief.
As of Saturday afternoon, police had filed no charges against Vasquez. He and Franqui are both Hartford residents, police said.
Investigators provided no further details of the incident.
Residents of Newbury Street say they were shocked the incident happened in what many describe as a “quiet” neighborhood.
“I’ve seen a lot of police around (this morning), something we’ve not seen around here,” said Angel Arzuan, a Newbury Street resident who heard the gunshots.
Arzuan says he knows the man and his family, and saw no reason for what happened.
“They’re good people. They’re very good people,” he said.