EAST HARTFORD -- Police are still searching for the shooter responsible for injuring a child and a man on Great Hill Road in Mayberry Village shortly before 4 p.m.
Police say the child was close to 5-years old and the man was around 19-years old. They have released the relationship of the two. Both were transported to local hospitals for their non-life threatening injuries.
Neighbors in the area said the violence has gotten worse over the years.
“You know, bang bang … four!” said longtime East Hartford Resident, Bob Aylward.
Aylward has lived on Great Hill Road with his wife for close to 40 years. He said he has seen a lot happen and what he has noticed lately is the frequent shootings. He said he thought it was firecrackers at first until he stepped outside and saw the police cars and ambulances.
“It’s progressively getting worse,” added Aylward.
Police believe the shooting happened outside and over a dozen crime scene markers were placed on and around a silver car.
“Things can happen anywhere. It was a bad moment in a neighborhood like this, you know? It’s shameful,” said Fabian Rapino of Manchester.
“That’s disheartening. You see kids running around all day long. Just last week up the street here, there was a shooting,” added Aylward.
Another longtime resident that heard the gunshots was Betty Krongibiel. She grew up in Mayberry Village and said the neighborhood used to be filled with veterans but the ongoing violence has driven many away.
“I said ‘Oh boy. This doesn’t look good’ and then all of a sudden, it got stronger and stronger and I realized that they were just across the street,” said Krongibiel.
The nephew of the man who was said he also heard the gunshots. Mekyi Shepard was shocked to learn it was one of his family members but said he has checked in with him at the hospital and is relieved to hear his uncle will be okay.
“The people that live across the street, he’s friends with them and I was here with them and we just heard the shots and I didn’t know what happened when I went down there,” said Shepard of East Hartford.
Police say both victims are expected to be okay. They have not released the motive behind the shooting and said no one has been taken into custody yet.