Maurice Eastwood, the organizer of a basketball game in Hartford that turned deadly this past weekend, addressed accusations of carelessness at a press conference on Tuesday.
A shooting at a community basketball event in the city on Saturday left one dead and three injured.
Maurice Eastwood organized the event. He's a resident of Hartford, and senior at Central Connecticut State University. He spoke with his attorney at a press conference Tuesday at the court, next to Rawson Elementary School.
Eastwood countered speculation that he had not taken measures to obtain the required permit for the event.
"It's a picture painted that I didn't reach out to anyone for this event, which is 100 percent not the truth," Eastwood said. "It’s completely a lie. I reached out to the mayor's office. I went inside parks and rec building; I went inside Rawson School. I reached out to certain legislators."
Eastwood said he never heard back, but chose to carry on with the event anyway.
The tournament, which was free to attend and open to the community, drew hundreds of attendants, but police officers and required security were not among that crowd.
The day after the shooting, police arrested Windsor resident Roosevelt Holmes. Hartford police said that Holmes, who was not involved in the tournament, was involved in a dispute that led to the shootings.
Eastwood said that the focus now should be on the fact someone lost their life, not the lack of permit or food license.
"My goal was to bring people together and have a successful event, which I did for my community," Eastwood said. "The person who committed that stupid act wasn’t from my community. Its not a peer of mine, a friend of mine. It’s not someone I’ve ever had any association with."
More than 30 community members stood behind Eastwood to demonstrate solidarity.
Eastwood said he reached out to the family of the victim, and that he has their support.
Katie McAuliffe is a WNPR intern.
