Following a dispute with a neighbor over a dog, the parents of a four-month-old baby were gunned down.
Christina Dang, 27, and Chase Garrett, 39, of Hartford, Connecticut, were brutally murdered on Father’s Day in a driveway in what the mayor described as a “minor personal dispute” that occurred shortly after 9 p.m.
The parents were died at the scene, and a third victim, a woman from the very same address, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
“This is a tragic series of events, and it is heartbreaking to think that two people have lost their lives, and a third person remains in critical condition, because of a minor personal dispute that escalated into violence,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said on Monday.
He went on to say that the presence of the baby, “who we now believe is an orphan,” is a “very painful and especially tragic element.”
According to police, the baby was taken into custody by the Dept of Children and Families following the shooting.
As of Tuesday morning, police had seized a vehicle that they believe was used as a getaway car. Given the fact that a person of interest has been identified, no perpetrators have been confirmed to be in custody.
Police also stated that they had not previously responded to a dispute between the neighbors.
“This is the continuation of a very, very distressing trend that we are seeing not just in Hartford, but around the state and around the country… which is minor personal disputes escalating with incredible speed into violence. And the presence of guns then turns those disputes fatal,” Mr Bronin said, adding that for the child “life changed forever because a minor dispute about a dog turned into a tragic shooting”.
