One man was injured in a shooting in the Traverse Square housing development last Friday around 11:15 p.m. The victim, Brian Lamont Hurst, 27, was shot outside of unit 23, where he lives.
According to The Hartford Courant, Lamont is in stable condition at Hartford Hospital with bullet wounds to his back and leg.
“I’ve lived here for six years and I have never witnessed anything like that here,” Traverse Square resident Shannon Duke told The Argus on Sunday. “It is a bit surprising finding out there has been a shooting, especially on the weekend when everybody is out. I haven’t let my kids out.”
After the shots were fired, Public Safety was able to secure the area within several minutes, noted Director of Public Safety Dave Meyer.
“This is one of the areas that we had a direct patrol in anyway this weekend, due to thefts,” Meyer said. “When the shooting occurred, an officer was already in that area.”
Two suspects reportedly fled west on William Street. The Middletown Police Department was able to identify several persons of interest and take them to the station.
Residents of Hi Rise and Lo Rise were urged to stay inside
on Friday evening until the police felt that the threat was cleared.
“Because [the incident] involved non-University people off campus, it’s really a police issue,” Meyer said. “Though I do understand that students are concerned that it happened close to campus.”
“I certainly feel more exposed to danger than if I were living up the hill,” said Andrew Gorin ’09, who lives in Hi Rise and was in his apartment at the time of the shooting.
Gorin expressed that there wasn’t a lot of danger in the immediate Hi and Lo Rise area.
“All of the cops and the ambulance were focusing on something a few blocks away,” he said.
Avital Fischer ’09 was walking with Carter Smith ’09 in the parking lot behind Hi Rise when they heard the shots.
“We heard what sounded like fireworks—but it didn’t really sound like fireworks—and we thought, ‘No, it couldn’t be [gunshots],’” Fischer said. “Then PSafe was walking around saying, ‘Get in your house,’ and later we found out it was gunshots and there was an ambulance parked [by Traverse Square].”
The motivations behind the shooting remain unclear. Hurst has an extensive criminal record, as printed in The Hartford Courant. He currently awaits trial in a burglary case and was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1996 for carjacking and assault.
The last time a shooting happened in close proximity to campus was Sept. 23, 2005, when bullets were fired at 55 Broad Street.
“Students need to be aware of their surroundings,” Meyer offered as precautionary advice. “Wesleyan is interlaced with city streets, and we need to keep in mind that things that have nothing to do with campus can happen.”
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