A student from the University of Connecticut was shot and killed in a car on Tuesday night during what police believe to be a marijuana robbery attempt.
The Hartford Police Department shared that officers responded to a report of a vehicle that had crashed into a bridge at around 10:30 p.m.
Police found Zaid Dehe Langs-Myers, 18, at the scene of the crash. Langs-Myers was outside the vehicle and suffering from gunshot wounds, while another passenger was in the car and unharmed.
The 18-year-old was transported to St. Francis Hospital, where doctors attempted lifesaving measures, but he was eventually pronounced dead.
Lt. Aaron Boisvert told reporters Wednesday that police observed “quite a bit” of marijuana around the vehicle when assisting with the accident. Early investigations point to the drug being the motive for the shooting.
Marijuana is a legal recreational narcotic in Connecticut and has been since the state decriminalized it in July 2021.
Police reviewed traffic camera footage to track the car’s movements to a different location, where Boisvert said they “found evidence of a shooting.”
No arrests have been made at this moment, but the lieutenant shared that they have several strong leads.
Langs-Myers was enrolled at the famous Hartford school during the 2022-2023 academic year, according to school officials who spoke with NBC Connecticut.
“The UConn community is deeply shocked and grief-stricken by this tragic loss, and our thoughts are with Zaid’s family and friends,” the university said.
Langs-Myers was a local teen who graduated from a technical school in Hartford. Boisvert said that it didn’t appear he had been in trouble before.
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