Three people were shot and killed in Hartford over the weekend in two separate incidents.
Chan Williams-Bey, 27, was arrested on a murder charge in one of the attacks on Wethersfield Avenue early Sunday morning that left Jordan Phipps, 24, dead. Another person was wounded.
Roughly an hour later, two other people were shot and killed on Sterling Street in Hartford. William Tisdol, 23, and Hakeem Dickson, 27, both of Hartford, were killed, according to police.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said Williams-Bey had been out on bond for two years after he was allegedly involved in another shooting that led to the death of a bystander. State prosecutors say they dropped a murder charge in that case due to ballistic evidence but, Williams-Bey has a list of other pending criminal charges from previous incidents.
Bronin said a backlog of criminal cases that built up during the pandemic must be addressed by the state.
"I'm angry that this person was not in jail. I'm angry that this person was out in the community and was able to continue to commit acts of violence that take people's lives and that traumatize the community," Bronin said. "This person should have been locked up."
The Office of the Chief State's Attorney said Monday it dropped a prior murder charge against Williams-Bey in 2022 "due to the results of forensic testing that came to light in the case."
"Specifically, the ballistics of the bullet that killed the victim did not match the firearm recovered from the defendant," said Hartford State’s Attorney Sharmese L. Walcott, in a statement. "The state then entered a nolle on the murder charge but other charges against the defendant related to a second victim remain active. The court then set bond for the defendant at $250,000 with additional conditions for release, including a 24-hour lockdown with intensive pretrial supervision, including electronic monitoring, if bond was posted."
City officials said both of the shootings were targeted, planned attacks involving people who knew each other.
Bronin said in one of the incidents, a so-called "glock switch" was used. Those devices can be attached to a semi-automatic weapon to allow it to fire at a much faster rate.
Connecticut Public's Patrick Skahill contributed to this report. This story has been updated.
