The wife of an innocent bystander shot and killed in broad daylight Tuesday in Hartford wants justice for her husband.
Hartford police continue to search for the person who killed 59-year-old Guillermo Gonzalez.
Zenaida Figueroa said Gonzalez barely survived COVID-19, two strokes and other medical issues, but a pit stop for a hot dog at a local bodega, Comerio Groceries on Zion Street, is how he lost his life.
His wife said she was able to run for cover from the bullets, but her husband wasn’t able to do the same.
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“Un hombre bueno, amoroso…,” Figueroa described her husband as a good man, a loving man, someone who helped anyone who needed it. She spoke to out sister station Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra in Spanish.
She described seeing his hand over his chest covered in blood.
In the wake of the shooting, members of Mothers United Against Violence visited Gonzalez’s family to comfort them during the unthinkable.
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“This father was going out of the house because he wanted a hot dog. And, he stepped out of his house. He hadn’t been out of the house in the past couple of weeks. He had recovered from COVID-19 and other issues and he just wanted a breath of fresh air and then he goes outside and the unthinkable happens. This is becoming more rampant every day, broad daylight people being shot,” said Rev. Henry Brown.
This is the 13th homicide in Hartford this year. At this point last year, there were 11 homicides to date.
Advocates like Brown want people to remember a number of those killed have been innocent bystanders.
“This violence, this guns has to stop because when the gun is used there’s no returning once that bullet leaves that trigger,” said Henrietta Beckman, who lost her son to gun violence.
Advocates are urging community members to speak out and report anything suspicious to police, so senseless violence against innocent victims like Gonzalez can be stopped.
Laire Morrison lives just down the street from where the shooting happened.
He was going to pick up his 9-year-old from school when he was detoured around the crime scene.
“Yeah, actually it’s quite scary because I could be walking down the street minding my business talking to my daughter and next thing you know, I’m gone,” he said.
Mayor Luke Bronin’s office sent this statement:
“I’m heartbroken for Mr. Gonzalez’s family, loved ones and friends. Our whole community is shaken and hurt by this senseless loss, and the Hartford Police Department will do everything they can to bring to justice anyone and everyone responsible.”
Gonzalez’s wife wants just that: justice. After just a split second, her husband is no longer by her side.
Anyone with any information regarding the case is asked to call the Hartford Tip Line at 860-722-TIPS (8477).
