The Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Police added patrols to protect school children in the city’s North End Monday after two teenagers were shot last week while on their way to school.
The officers were assigned to watch over the area, paying close attention to Weaver High School, where both teenagers are students. One of the victims was hit by gunfire while he waited at a bus stop.
“We want to provide a comfort level for parents and students,” said Nancy Mulroy, a Hartford police spokeswoman.
Mulroy said the extra parole will continue to monitor the area for as long as the department feels fit. Officers will pay close attention to school arrival and dismissals, she said.
“We’re going to do our part. The police department is going to do their part. The city of Hartford is going to do their part, but we also need help from parents,” Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez told WFSB-TV.
Police believe a group of two to three men, wearing dark hooded shirts, are responsible for shooting Harrold Gowder, 17, and Courtney Brown, also 17. The two were hit by shots fired from a group of people in small green car, police said.
Mulroy would not say whether the two boys were targeted or if the shootings were random.
“We’re conducting a complete investigation of all options and all possible connections,” she said.
Gowder was walking through Nelton Court when he was shot in the right arm and left buttocks at 7:15 a.m., police said.
Only a half hour later, Brown was standing at the corner of Barbour and Westland streets, waiting for the school bus, when a passenger in the back seat of a car began firing at him with a handgun, police said. Brown then boarded a bus and went to see the school nurse for help.
Both boys were treated for non-threatenting injuries at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center.
Late Friday night, undercover police in the Dutch Point neighborhood approached a green Dodge Intrepid, a car they believed was used earlier in the day to shoot the two teenagers. When they got closer to the car, they were shot at by a group of three men who then escaped, Mulroy said. None of the officers were hurt.
“The detectives dove for cover and were unable to return fire,” she said.
Police on Monday were asking witnesses to contact the major crimes division for any additional information.