MANCHESTER

Man Suspected of Shooting One Teen, Hitting Another With a Car in Connecticut

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Manchester Police have arrested a man who is suspected of shooting at a group of teens, shooting one of them, then chasing them down and hitting another with a car last night.

Police said 44-year-old Jamie Garcia, of Manchester, is suspected of firing the gunshots that injured a 15-year-old, then chasing down teens who ran from the scene, hitting a 17-year-old.   

Officers responded to Dougherty and McKee streets around 9 p.m. to investigate reports of a shooting and found the 15-year-old with a gunshot wound to his shoulder, police said.

He was taken to the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, where he is in stable condition, police said.

Police said multiple gunshots were fired.

Manchester Police are investigating after a teen was shot and at the same time, another teen was hit by a car Thursday night.

While this happened, a pedestrian was hit in the same area. Police said a 17-year-old was struck by a car believed to be driven by Garcia.

Police said investigators gathered Information that showed that the victim who was shot and a group of his friends were walking on Dougherty Street when Garcia approached them, holding a gun, police said.

The teens immediately turned and ran away, and Garcia fired several rounds in the direction they ran, then got into a vehicle, drove in the direction of where the teenagers went, ultimately chasing down and striking one of them near McKee Street, police said.

That 17-year-old sustained minor injuries from the crash, authorities said.

Garcia has been charged with assault in the first degree, three counts of criminal attempt/assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, five counts of risk of injury to a minor, carrying a pistol without a permit and evading responsibility.

In court Friday, Garcia's attorney told the judge a Ring camera showed the teens burglarizing Garcia's house.

The prosecutor said the teens were playing manhunt in the neighborhood.

The judge said Garcia took the law into his own hands by chasing the teens and that nothing in Connecticut law allows him to do what he did.

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