HARTFORD -- Three shootings, including the shooting of a pastor, ended a violent week in Hartford.
According to city crime data, there have been more than 50 shooting incidents and 10 homicides in the capital city this year. That is compared to four homicides and 39 shooting incidents during the same time period in 2014.
"The tone felt more aggressive. People had more anger. It felt like people had less hope and we're searching, I think they were empty and were searching for something,” said Iran Nazario, an outreach worker for Compass Peacebuilders, an organization dedicated to stopping gun violence in Hartford.
On Sunday, two men were shot in separate incidents. Both survived and are in stable condition, but that followed several other shootings that occurred earlier in the week:
- One victim was a well-known pastor. On Sunday morning, while Pastor Augustus Sealy was putting up flags around the church for Memorial Day, he was shot three times, police said.
- The other shooting that happened early Sunday morning was at 402 Garden Street around 6:41 a.m., just 20 minutes after Pastor Sealy was shot. Police say 27-year-old Robert Jones of Hartford was shot at least a half a dozen times.
- On Saturday, a man was shot in the torso. Five arrests were made in that case.
- Earlier in the week and last weekend weekend, shootings resulted in three homicides.
The director of the trauma program for Saint Francis Hospital, Dr. William Marshall, said his unit is prepared to deal with a gunshot wound a day, but his staff is still impacted when victims lose their lives in their care.
"If they don't survive, you're there wondering, you know, that's another life that we just lost. For those who do survive, you're wondering how they're going to survive with these injuries and what kind of person they're going to be after these events,” Marshall said.
