HARTFORD, Conn. — A dispute between family members at a funeral in Connecticut spiraled into a melee in which one man was stabbed and a woman grazed by gunfire, police said.
Witnesses and police described a chaotic scene as people threw punches and gunshots rang out as people screamed and the crowd of about 150 mourners poured out of Gospel Lighthouse Apostolic Church, north of downtown Hartford. Police said there was shooting both inside and outside the church.
“You can imagine what 150 people scrambling out of the church looked like,” said police Lt. Aaron Boisvert, who said bullets damaged the interior. No arrests were announced.
Police recovered two guns but investigators had not yet determined if they were fired. The two wounded people had injuries that weren’t life-threatening and were taken in private vehicles to a local hospital.
It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the fight. No one answered the phone at the church and a phone message was left for the pastor.
The funeral was for 89-year-old Ida Hawkins-Green, who had nine kids of her own and one stepchild, as well more than 100 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, according to her obituary. She died last month.
Curtis Thomas, who was set to sing at the service, wondered when this kind of violence would end.
“It’s already enough grieving. But to do it in a church? A church?” he told WTNH-TV. “A place where people come to get guidance and get help from a higher power.”