Latest news with #GospelLighthouseApostolicChurch
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man arrested after stabbing, shooting during funeral service at Hartford church
A suspect has been arrested in connection with a shooting and stabbing during a funeral service in Hartford on Friday, officials said. Joshua Smellie, 34, of Hartford, has been arrested and is charged with first-degree assault, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal use of a firearm, risk of injury, first-degree reckless endangerment, and third-degree assault on an elderly person, according to the Hartford Police Department. Officers said Smellie was located during the evening hours Friday in Waterbury and taken into custody by the Hartford Police Violent Crimes Unit and Fugitive Task Force. He was arrested and transported to a Hartford police detention facility for processing. The arrest comes after officers responded to The Gospel Lighthouse Apostolic Church, located at 2003 Main St. in Hartford, on numerous 911 calls reporting gunfire inside the church Friday morning. Police said they found evidence of gunshots both inside and outside of the church. Police said a 'melee' had broken out during a funeral service with an estimated 150 people in attendance. The shooting is believed to be the result of an altercation between family members inside the church, police said. Two people suffered non life-threatening injuries, including a woman who arrived at an area hospital suffering from a graze-type gunshot wound. A second victim, not identified as a man or woman, also arrived at an area hospital suffering from an apparent stab wound. That person's wound was also described as non-life-threatening, officials said. The investigation remains active and ongoing, police said. Anyone with any information regarding the case is asked to call the HPD Tip Line at 860-722-TIPS (8477). Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@
Associated Press
09-05-2025
- Associated Press
Fight at a funeral in Connecticut erupts into gunfire and stabbing, wounding 2
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — 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.'
