1 Killed and 6 Hurt in Hartford Shooting

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
NY YORK TIMES


Published: Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 10:16 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 11:00 a.m.
One person was killed and six people, including a child, were wounded 
Saturday evening at the end of the annual West Indian parade and festival in 
Hartford, the police said.


Officers have arrested three people in connection with the shooting, which 
occurred about 6:30 p.m., the police said.

It remained unclear late Saturday what led to the shooting. The authorities 
did not disclose information about the victims or the suspects, except to 
say that a child had been among the injured. The police did not say whether 
the child was a boy or a girl and did not give the child's age.

A woman at the parade, Michele Redding, who said she lived in Enfield, 
Conn., told The Associated Press that she heard about 10 shots, which 
sounded like firecrackers.

After the shooting, she said, people began running south on Main Street. She 
said she saw at least one man fall in the crush of the crowd.

Ms. Redding said she had emergency response training and that she tried to 
help the man, who looked to be in his early 20s. His breathing was labored, 
he was in a daze and "the blood was gushing from under his arm," Ms. Redding 
told The Associated Press.

The shooting occurred at the end of the parade, an event that takes place in 
the North End, where most of Hartford's West Indian population lives.

The 2000 Census showed that Hartford had a West Indian population of about 
10,000, with more than 8,000 of those from Jamaica or of Jamaican descent.

The city has the third largest West Indian population in the United States, 
according to the mayor's office and the Connecticut Historical Society.

Thousands of people from around the region attend the annual parade, which 
has been celebrated for 46 years.