Waterbury, Connecticut, police have arrested a suspect in the murder of one man and the shooting of another outside of a liquor store at 309 Walnut Street in Waterbury on Tuesday evening.
Police said they found the suspect, Alejandro Hernandez, 24, of Waterbury, hiding out a hotel in Southington.
The victims were walking out of the liquor store around 5:15 p.m. when they were shot, according to police.
Deleone Smith, 25, of Waterbury, was shot in the chest and taken to St. Mary's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later, police said.
A 31-year-old man was shot in the cheek and sustained non-life threatening injuries, according to police. He was transferred to Hartford Hospital and has been released. Police have not released his name.
Hernandez has been charged with murder, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal use of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a permit, unlawful discharge of a firearm.
He is being held on $1 million bond and will appear in Waterbury Superior Court this morning.
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Police said Hernandez has past drug arrests and convictions and had an ongoing dispute with Smith.
The shooting happened a block away from the scene of a shooting in August that left a 49-year-old man dead and just across the street from a community learning center that hosts after-school programs for local children.
"This is not good. This is making it bad for their reputation," said James Monroe, president of the Skoville Homes Association, a nearby apartment complex. "We're trying to grow this center, to do things for the kids."
It's not clear whether children were there at the time at the time of the shooting.
"The drug traffic on this street from Wood to East Farms Street over here is outrageous," Monroe said. "We need to come together as a community and say, 'No more.'"
