15-Year-Old Killed in Hartford St. Patrick's Day Shooting

A 15-year-old was found dead of a gunshot wound in a Hartford apartment building Friday night and now police are searching for suspects.

Police said that 15-year-old Keon Huff, Junior, was found in the hallway of 393 Garden Street with a gunshot wound to his head around 9:30 p.m. He was pronounced dead on scene.

Deputy Chief Brian Foley called the teen’s death a “failure of the system” and said it was unacceptable for the community.

“Every time there’s a homicide it’s emotional. Not just for the family, but also neighborhood, community, and the city, as well as first responders,” he said.

Authorities said they’re using every resource available to solve the case and prevent further tragedy like this. The Major Crimes unit, the Focused Violence Reduction Team, community groups and faith-based organizations are all involved.

Mayor Luke Bronin released the following statement:

“Keon’s death – the eighth homicide in three months, and the youngest life lost in a long, long time – is devastating, and very painful to the many people who knew him and were working with him. Last year, I personally sat with Keon and talked to him about his future and about his life. Keon was in direct contact with many of our close community partners, who were trying hard to mentor him and get him the support he needed. But as a society, we’re failing too many young men like Keon. Between state agencies, courts, schools, police, and community organizations, we need to figure out a better way to work together. As a society, we all bear responsibility for doing better – not just at getting guns off the street, not just at arresting violent criminals, but at actually supporting those young people who are at risk of being on either side of a gun, long before a tragedy like this happens.”

Investigators did collect evidence on scene but did not go into detail about what they found. So far, no suspect description has been released.

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