WORCESTER, Mass. — A mother and her 11-year-old daughter were fatally shot while sitting in a parked SUV in a Massachusetts neighborhood. Police arrested one man and were searching for another.
The mother and daughter were shot shortly after 3 p.m. Monday in Worcester, police said. Officers found them inside the SUV. They were taken to a hospital, where they were both pronounced dead, police said.
One man was arrested Tuesday. Police did not release any information on that person, but said they were searching for a 27-year-old man in connection with the killings of Chasity Nunez and her daughter, Zella Nunez.
FOX61 confirmed Chasity Nunez was a member of the Connecticut Army National Guard's 142nd Medical Company.
"Our hearts are broken because we lost Specialist Chasity Nunez to senseless violence," Major David Pytlik said in a statement. "Her wit, social nature and dedication to duty made her one of the best Soldiers in our unit. I cannot begin to make sense of why this happened and why her family, friends, co-workers and fellow soldiers have been robbed of her and Zella. What we can, and must do now, is support one another as we grieve, process this profound loss and honor their memory."
Pytlik described Chasity Nunez as incredibly resilient, brilliantly intelligent and destined for success.
Police said in court documents that surveillance video shows “the victims parked in their vehicle and that two people walk up to the vehicle and start shooting,” the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported. Video also showed a car consistent with a witness description circling the area before the shooting and leaving afterward, the documents said. The vehicle was later found in Hartford.
Authorities didn’t immediately release a potential motive for the killings. It also wasn’t released whether there was any relationship between the men and the victims.
“Today we mourn the senseless loss of two Worcester residents, a mother and daughter whose lives were taken far too soon and far too tragically," the city's mayor, city manager, police chief and school district superintendent said in a joint statement.
“Collectively, we ask for patience and privacy on behalf of the victims’ family and friends and for the Worcester Public Schools who are grieving the loss of a student. An act of such violence has no place in our city.”
The statement said the residents of Worcester “deserve better, and we will stand alongside our community in sorrow and solidarity.”
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