A tragic drive-by shooting in Connecticut claimed the life of a 12-year-old girl, who was fatally shot in the head, while three others sustained injuries.
The young victim, Secret Pierce, was a student at Thurman L. Milner Middle School in Hartford. The deadly incident occurred at approximately 8:45 p.m. on Thursday when shots were fired at a vehicle carrying Secret and three other individuals, according to local reports.
Following the shooting, Secret was rushed to Saint Francis Hospital in critical condition but, sadly, passed away from her injuries at 7 a.m. on Friday. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin expressed his condolences to the grieving family and urged the other victims, who he noted had extensive criminal and firearm involvement, to cooperate with the police in their investigation.
The mayor emphasized the importance of sharing information about the shooter, stating that withholding such knowledge would be unjust to Secret’s family. Lt. Aaron Boisvert of the Hartford Police Department indicated that preliminary investigations suggest Secret was not the intended target of the gunfire.
Upon responding to the shooting, authorities discovered the girl in a parked vehicle. Additionally, an 18-year-old male victim was found on the sidewalk. The 18-year-old is reported to be in stable condition, while the other two victims—a 16-year-old boy and a 23-year-old man—arrived at the hospital independently with non-life-threatening injuries.
Investigators have obtained footage that captured a vehicle speeding away from the scene on Huntington Street at the time of the shooting. Authorities are currently working to identify the vehicle in question.