HARTFORD — Hartford police said they arrested a man after he fired a gun and pointed it at them Tuesday night.
They said at around 5:45 p.m. they went to an area of Maple Avenue at Main Street in response to multiple 911 calls of shots fired.
The anonymous callers reported that a Hispanic man, wearing a blue coat,had fired a gun.
Police said they saw Abdias Cortes of East Hartford, on the sidewalk openly waving a gun while appearing to by high or disoriented.
Police said they told Cortes to drop the gun, and he refused to comply, instead pointing the gun directly at them.
Police said Cortes was momentarily distracted by other officers arriving on scene and lowered his gun. At that time police said they were able to converge on his position and take him into custody after a brief struggle. The firearm was recovered and found to be a Glock 9mm handgun loaded with eight live 9mm rounds, according to police.
Police said they found one spent 9mm shell casing on the ground.
Cortes confessed to being under the influence of narcotics during the incident, according to police. He was found to posses a valid state pistol permit, and the recovered gun was registered under his name. His pistol permit was “remanded,” according to police.
Cortes was charged with first-degree criminal attempt at assault, unlawful discharge of a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment, carrying a firearm while under the influence, second-degree breach of peace and interfering with police.
Hartford police released calls made to their dispatcher from the incident. In the audio, police use code 83 to mean “gun” and code 81 to mean “shots fired.”
