HARTFORD, Conn. — A 12-year-old girl was killed Thursday night after she was shot in the head during a drive-by quadruple shooting in Hartford in which police say she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Hartford Police Department received a ShotSpotter alert at about 8:42 p.m. on Huntington Street where responding officers found an 18-year-old man on the sidewalk who had been struck by gunfire and the young girl, who was in a parked vehicle, according to Hartford police Lt. Aaron Boisvert.
Both were taken to a local hospital with injuries. The 12-year-old, identified by police as Secret Pierce, was initially listed in critical condition. Secret, who was a seventh-grade at Milner Middle School in Hartford, was pronounced dead at 7 a.m. on Friday.
Shortly after the shots were fired, two male victims walked into St. Francis Hospital suffering from gunshot wounds not believed to be life-threatening.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin called it a “painful day in our community” at a press conference Friday.
The mayor said of the three men who were shot, two were adults and one was a juvenile, and he believes all three have an extensive criminal history that includes firearm-related offenses. One was on probation, Bronin said, and another was awaiting adjudication of a pending firearm case. The mayor called on all three gunshot victims to share with investigators what they know.
“While I am sorry for the wounds that they experienced last night and hope that they recover quickly and heal in all ways — physical, mental and in heart — I also call on them to share whatever they know because I believe they know who fired the bullets that killed a 12-year-old girl,” Bronin said.
Mothers United Against Violence founder Henrietta Beckman said the child’s death marks “a sad day in Hartford.”
“We had a 3-year-old and now we have a 12-year-old (fatally shot). I mean, people … they have no regard for life. And they’re just shooting anywhere,” she said.
“That could have been another family walking their child because it’s a nice day. And you just never know when they’re going to be shooting. It’s crazy. And it’s unfortunate that people keep losing their lives. Not only in Hartford, but it is all over. Whatever we need to do to get these guns off the street, we need to do so.”
Andrew Woods, CEO of Hartford Communities That Care and a leader of the Hartford Care Response Team that provides support and resources when violence occurs in the city, said “My staff and I have been working throughout the night and currently providing grief support at the school where (the young girl) attended.
“We are all devastated by this senseless act of violence and will continue to provide support to the family of Secret and her classmates,” Woods said.
News of the girl’s death reverberated across all neighborhoods, with leaders noting the inability of the city to keep its youngest residents safe.
“We are once again heartbroken and devastated by the tragic loss of a child in Hartford due to gun violence,” said City Councilwoman Tiana Hercules. “I share in the pain of my neighbors at this time, and am as committed as ever to do everything within our power to make this city safer for our children.”
City Councilwoman Shirley Surgeon said the news hit her as a leader, but also, “as a mother and a grandmother, I’m just … I’m heartbroken.
“As a community leader, I am totally at a loss for our kids and trying to protect them. And I know the police department is doing the best they can, but we also as parents have the (responsibility) of our young ones. It is so heartbreaking that this is happening. Our kids don’t seem like they have any hope or are looking forward to the future,” Surgeon said “And that’s the heartbreaking part. I feel it the most, because I’m a mother and a grandmother. And we work so hard to protect her kids and have so much hope for them for the future.
“When their lives are taken short like this … you have to do something. This is a pandemic with guns in our country. It is a huge pandemic that … we have to wake up to this,” she said. “We have to throw everything against this pandemic, this gun violence pandemic, if we’re going to solve this issue.”
Boisvert said investigators believe three males were on the sidewalk when they were shot and that they were the intended targets. Secret, he said, “most likely had nothing to do with the incident.” She was about 30 feet away from the individuals who were targeted, according to police.
Officials on Friday declined to say if Secret had any connection to any of the males who were shot.
“Very tragic, very unfortunate, sickening,” Boisvert said.
Video footage in the area showed gunfire erupting as a motorist drove north on Huntington Street.
“We have video of the drive-by, we can see that there was gunfire,” Boisvert said, adding that investigators late Thursday were working to “clean that video up” and possibly get more video footage of the incident.
Boisvert said police on Thursday night were not yet sure if anyone returned fire at the vehicle used in the drive-by and if anyone in that car was injured. Boisvert confirmed Friday that police believe the suspect vehicle had two people inside, including a driver and the shooter.
Hartford police made contact with Secret’s mother and assisted in bringing her to the hospital.
Investigators Friday afternoon could be seen still searching for evidence at the scene. They focused on the lawn outside an apartment building at 48 Huntington St., where multiple men with metal detectors were combing through the grass.
Michael Bernard, who lives across the street, said he was alerted to the shooting after he heard the gunshots from his apartment.
“I heard all the commotion,” Bernard said. “I saw the flashes on my wall. It was startling. I thought it was fireworks at first.”
Howard Fair Sr., who also lives nearby, called on the community and wondered why there hasn’t been more outrage about gun violence.
“It’s a tragedy,” Fair said, “a tragedy. We’re in a war right now. It’s an urban war, and we have to find a way to get the guns off the streets.”
“We’re one of the worst countries with gun violence,” Fair continued. “People don’t seem to care if it’s not in their neighborhood.”
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(Hartford Courant reporter Deidre Montague contributed to this story.)
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