Hartford residents push for stronger community bonds in light of recent gun violence
Creating peace and stronger bonds between neighbors in Hartford is what community members are pushing for in response to recent gun violence in the city.
There was somber reflection in the air on Albany Avenue in Hartford, with balloons and candles set out for a vigil remembering 42-year-old Christopher Shannon.
Hartford police said Shannon was shot and killed on March 9 on Allen Place, one of the two deadly shootings that happened the same week. It’s a troubling trend for people in the city.
“We have to really embrace each other and find pathways to hope and healing,” Angela Harris, Health Ministry Chair at Phillips Metropolitan CME Church, said.
For members of the church, that meant community outreach. The church held a Day of Peace event that promoted resources such as counseling and conversations with neighbors to build stronger bonds.
“Broken relationships cause hurt people to hurt people. Help relationships cause help people to help people,” Rev. Dean Jones said.
Hartford police said that so far this year, there have been seven homicides compared to three up to this same point last year, and four in both 2024 and 2023.
Lt. Aaron Boisvert said that many of the homicides involved personal disputes between people, which are difficult for officers to prevent.
“The personal disputes are the hardest ones, because you never know when or where it’s going to set somebody off,” he said.
Community leaders like Fred Phillips, founder of Men Standing Up Against Violence, say a tough economy can have a ripple effect on people’s emotions.
“When you have situations like that going on, you got people that are stressed out. So it doesn’t take a lot to tick them off,” he said.
It’s why the nonprofit Hartford Communities That Care held meetings to help people get to know their neighbors. Young people like 19-year-old Elisha Bailey said that knowing your neighbors creates a sense of safety and pushes people to de-escalate.
“Always keep everybody’s feelings included whenever you’re coming up with solutions to any problem,” he said.
Bailey ultimately wants people to understand that killing someone over personal issues is a selfish act that never solves anything and will only lead to more vigils in the future.
“We can teach people that these solutions that you might think are the best solutions, really aren’t,” he said.
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