HARTFORD, Conn. — A Hartford man is facing several charges after a shooting during an attempted carjacking left one person dead.
The shooting happened Monday afternoon in the parking lot of an apartment complex and storage area on Park Street near Pope Park Highway in Hartford, police said.
Police said after the attempted carjacking there was an exchange of gunfire between the carjacking victim and two suspects.
Police said three people were shot and one person died.
When police got to the scene, they found an unresponsive man. First responders immediately began life-saving measures but the person succumbed to their injuries at the scene, according to officials.
Preliminary investigation reveals that the person who died may have been a suspect, according to police. The second suspect was located at Hartford Hospital with gunshot wounds.
“Transport vehicle that dropped him off fled the scene and crashed on Seymour; that’s why we have a secondary scene there. That driver is outstanding. He fled from the vehicle,” Lt. Aaron Boisvert said.
A third person, believed to be the victim of the attempted carjacking, was found on the side of the building with multiple gunshot wounds. They were transported to Hartford Hospital where they were listed in critical but stable condition.
According to police, the carjacking victim was a pistol permit holder.
Police said it had appeared that the driver was followed into the parking lot for their vehicle.
"At this point, it looks like the induvial was defending himself and potentially his car, but he’s in the hospital and it could have very easily been tragic for him and his family. A lot more tragic than it is right now,” said Chief Jason Thody.
“This is normally a very quiet area, this area of park street normally doesn’t see too much crime but unfortunately it saw it today,” Boisvert said.
“It’s pretty surprising just for this specific area just because the Parkville Market is here and everything but I mean it’s not just surprising for Hartford, there’s been a lot of murders and stuff like that going on,” Michael Pilgrene from New Britain said.
As of Tuesday, the surviving suspect has not been released from the hospital, according to police.
He's been identified as 22-year-old Joseph Ray. Hartford police have charged Ray with criminal possession of a firearm, first-degree robbery, first-degree conspiracy to commit robbery, first-degree assault, first-degree conspiracy to commit assault, and criminal attempt to commit murder.
Police said at this time it's unknown when Ray will be arraigned.
It's not clear if the carjacking victim, who was permitted to carry a gun, will be charged too.
“We’ve seen self-defense situations before whether it be with firearms or not with firearms. We collect the facts and work with the states attorney's office to see if this is a chargeable case or not and that’s what will happen here,” said Thody.
If the victim is not charged this homicide will be cleared by what’s called exceptional clearance.
“Exceptional clearance is a solved homicide. There’s just circumstances that prevented us from making an arrest or it’s justified or there’s many different ways,” said Boisvert.
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Elisha Machado is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at emachado@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
DeAndria Turner is a multi-media journalist at FOX61 News. She can be reached at dturner@fox61.com.
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