A Wesleyan University fraternity placed on probation and slapped with a sexual assault lawsuit in December has been suspended over allegations of illegal drug use.

Psi Upsilon members are accused of organizing group drug deals, one of which police interrupted in May, according to a joint statement from the university president and vice president for student affairs. Wesleyan officials said state and federal authorities are investigating.

"In addition to violating Wesleyan’s policies prohibiting illegal drugs, these allegations represent important health and safety concerns for the campus," Wesleyan President Michael Roth and Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Whaley said in a joint statement Monday.

Wesleyan has revoked the chapter's housing privileges for the upcoming year.

Although the university is allowing Psi Upsilon to participate in Greek activities, a statement from the national fraternity said the chapter at Wesleyan has been suspended while an investigation gets underway.

"Illegal drug use is unacceptable and not congruent to the values of our fraternity, and any members found guilty will be held accountable for their actions," Psi Upsilon Executive Director Thomas Fox said in a statement Monday. "Once we conclude our investigation into the matter we can better decide a direction for the chapter as a whole."

The fraternity has been on probation since December, when two sexual assault allegations came to light, one of which prompted a lawsuit. The probationary period was to last through the end of the 2015-2016 academic year.

"This turn of events is deeply disappointing for so many of us. It is certainly a blow to alumni and students who care for Psi U, and that includes the new women members who had planned to live there this fall," Roth and Whaley said in a statement.

School officials said Wesleyan will reconsider the fraternity’s status on campus after state and federal investigations are complete. Individual fraternity members may also be disciplined.

"Wesleyan is committed to addressing illegal drug use and has established a task force to identify best practices in this regard. This task force will report back to the campus community this academic year," Roth and Whaley said.

It’s not the first time Wesleyan students have been accused of dealing drugs.

Five students were arrested and expelled this spring for allegedly selling party drugs that sickened a dozen of their peers. Their names are not listed on the Psi Upsilon roster.

Health department officials along the shoreline have issued a health alert after a stray kitten found in East Haven tested positive for rabies.

The stray was found on July 9 in the area of North High Street and Mill Street, according to Michael Pascucilla, director of health for the East Shore District Health Department, which serves Branford, North Branford and East Haven.

Officials are calling the case an isolated incident but are asking residents to be alert. Wild animals come into contact with people and their pets more often during the summer months, so residents should take all possible precautions, including the following:

• Vaccinate pets.
• Keep pets inside at night.
• Don't attract wild animals. Avoid putting out bird seed or feeding pets outside.
• Don't feed or touch wild animals or strays.
• Call a wildlife control expert if wild animals are living in or around your home.
• Teach children to be aware and respectful of wildlife.
• Do not engage wild animals that wander onto your property.
• Report all bites and/or contact with wild animals to your health department.
• Wash all bites and contact your health care provider immediately.

Anyone who has spotted stray cats or come into contact with them is urged to call the East Shore District Health Department at 203-481-4233 or East Haven Animal Control at 203-468-3249 immediately.

You can learn more about rabies by calling the Centers for Disease Control at 1-800- CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) or visiting www.cdc.gov/rabies. Shoreline residents can contact the ESDHD at 203-481-4233 or go to www.ESDHD.org.

A man accused of yelling anti-Semitic comments outside a synagogue in New London was served a second arrest warrant on Monday.

Travor Blize, 30, of New London, was arrested on Saturday after officers caught him shouting derogatory remarks at members of the synagogue on Ocean Avenue, according to police.

He was charged with two counts of breach of peace and driving with a suspended license.

Police served Blize with a second warrant before his court appearance on Monday. The new warrant charges Blize with three counts of breach of peace.

He was held on $11,000 bond. It's not clear if Blize has an attorney.

Alba and Steven King never thought of adopting a cat — they'd always wanted a dog — so it certainly never crossed their mind to adopt an older feline companion.

But when they went to a New York City shelter in November to check on a sick stray they had brought in a few days earlier, they ended up taking home a 10-year-old cat who meowed his way into their hearts.

“When we walked in the room where there was a wall of cages, he came over to the door of his cage and was meowing at us”, Alba King, 27, said of the cat. “He was the only one trying to get our attention." 

The couple felt an immediate connection with Andrew, whom they renamed Captain Reynolds after a character in a TV series “Firefly,” and knew their apartment in Queens allowed the pets. But when King found out the cat was 10, she immediately called her mom and brother to get their opinion on adopting an older cat.

“The first thing they said to me was ‘why are you getting an old pet?’ That’s what everyone said to me,” she said.

King worried, too, that Captain Reynolds might get sick soon and die next year. But the staff at Animal Care Centers of NYC in Brooklyn put her at ease and explained that a cat’s life expectancy is 15 to 20 years.

“I looked at him and then I realized that kittens are a lot of work, they are very playful and they change when they grow up, whereas with Captain Reynolds, what I was seeing is what I was getting,” said King.

Animal shelters across the U.S. are filled with healthy older dogs and cats in need of a home. Animal care professional urge those thinking about picking up a pet from a local shelter to not look past older cats and dogs because they need families, too. 

“Unfortunately, the older animals and seniors are often overlooked because people are excited to adopt puppies and kittens,” said Jessica Vaccaro, adoption manager at Animal Care Centers of NYC, which takes in more than 30,000 animals each year. “We hope to encourage people to come and see these wonderful, mature animals-- animals that are often already trained, often used to living in a household.”

Adopting an older pet is as practical as it is gratifying, experts say. There are fewer surprises with older pets because you’ll know their full-grown size, personality and grooming needs. They are often already trained and calmer than youngsters.

Older dogs are not necessarily “problem dogs” — they can end up at the shelter for a number of reasons, including their owner going through a job loss or move. 

Elizabeth Hendrix, 67, of Manhattan, had been considering adopting a dog when her granddaughter sent her a photo of 13-year-old Max, a 91-pound Swiss mountain mix who ended up at the Animal Care Centers of NYC in Harlem because his owner was unable to care for him. Hendrix went to meet Max in mid-July and brought him home the same day after he refused to go back in his cage at the shelter.

“He had a very sad look in his eyes, like 'why am I here?'” said Hendrix, who already has a 3-year-old terrier mix named Molly. “I couldn’t see him being euthanized; he needed to live out his final days as comfortable and as loved as possible.”

Hendrix said the benefit of adopting an older pet is that “they already have all their little problems out of the way: they’re already trained, house broken, they don’t chew things up."

"The main thing is they just need to be loved,” she added.

She said less than one week after the adoption, Max became her instant companion. He follows her everywhere she goes.

Not all senior pets are so lucky when it comes to finding home. Cherie Wachter, vice president of marketing at the Humane Society of Broward County in Florida, said puppies and kittens there get adopted very quickly, but older pets linger in the shelter for weeks.

In early June, she had two 7-year-old-dogs, a little dog named Nacho and a shepherd mix named Roxy, available for adoption. She said they lived in the same household and are very attached, so they’d have to be adopted together. No one had expressed any interest at that time, even though they are potty trained.

Wachter said people looking for pets often don’t realize how much work and patience little puppies require. 

"I wish more people opened up their hearts and homes to mature pets,” she said.

Emily Huetson, animal welfare director at On Angel’s Wings in Crystal Lake, Illinois, also finds that older pets are a better fit for many families. She said qualities more typical of older animals, such as a calm demeanor and less destructive nature, often come up when the shelter asks potential puppy owners what qualities they are looking for in a pet.

"What they want is the qualities we have in our 8-year-old dogs," Huetson said.

She said the shelter encourages families with young children and seniors to adopt older pets since they are already trained. In addition to providing information about the dog's personality and history, she encourages families and children to meet and interact with the seniors pets. 

"They just kind of sit there with sad eyes,"  said Huetson. "They don’t know why they're in the cage."

Many potential pet owners are worried that adopting an older pet can mean high vet bills, but experts say that is not always the case. Sometimes a shelter will have medical records that can help owners make an informed decision about possible health issues. Either way, experts recommend a full vet visit -- including a geriatric workup -- soon after the adoption is complete. 

King learned that Captain Reynolds was allergic to some foods, so he’s on a special diet now that does cost a little more every month. He also had to have 16 of his teeth taken out because he spent so many years as a street cat without dental care and is now left with only one fang. King discussed the potential costs of teeth extraction with a vet and, since it wasn't a life-threatening condition, she was able to save up for a few months to cover the $373 bill. She said a kitten “could’ve grown up to have the same problems just maybe a little later.”

At Operation Kindness in Carrollton, Texas, a permanent foster care program eliminates concerns over vet bills. Anyone who adopts an older pet form the shelter can return there to get medical care for their pet for free, according to CEO Jim Hanophy.

“That takes worry off the table for some people,” he said. “People underestimate the length of time an animal can live. If an animal is healthy when they are 12 they will probably be healthy till the end."

For King, Captain Reynolds’ age is just a number and she said from now on she’ll  adopt older pets.

“It was such an easy transition,” King said. "He’s just really relaxed, he’ll take a nap on a couch, he’ll take a nap on a windowsill. I didn’t have to turn my life upside down to have a companion.”

A sheriff's deputy in Kentucky illegally shackled two disabled children in a school after they misbehaved, a lawsuit filed Monday in federal district court claims, NBC News reported. 

Video posted by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the children, showed one of the encounters, which involved an 8-year-old boy and a sheriff's deputy who was working as a resource officer at Latonia Elementary School, just south of Cincinnati.

The boy, who is identified in the lawsuit as S.R. and has been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, according to the complaint, was sent to the vice principal's office in November 2013 after experiencing "disability-related difficulties complying" with his teacher.

Video footage from the office shows the deputy, Kevin Sumner, placing the boy's hands behind his back and handcuffing his biceps.

The lawsuit, which names Sumner and the Kenton County Sheriff's Office as defendants, is requesting policy changes and unspecified damages.

Pat Morgan, chief deputy with the Kenton County Sheriff, declined to discuss specifics of the suit, saying he had only just learned of it. "We're going to talk to our attorney," he told NBC News. 

Hartford Deputy Fire Chief Dan Nolan has filed a lawsuit against his chief and the mayor days after he was suspended without pay.

Nolan was invited to testify April 16 before a panel looking into the line-of-duty death of firefighter Kevin Bell. He made comments that were critical of department leadership, calling the chief a "Bambi."

Department leadership said Nolan's discipline stemmed from his decision to stay and talk to the media after being ordered back to work. Nolan was suspended for a month without pay for failing to follow orders and being absent without leave.

"That's all a sham to punish him for the viewpoint of his speech," said Nolan's attorney, Mario Cerame.

Nolan said it was not clear that the interim assistant chief who ordered him back to work outranked him. He added that he asked Fire Chief Carlos Huertas to tell him what to do and Huertas did not respond.

Neither Huertas or the office of Hartford Mayor Mayor Pedro Segarra will comment on the lawsuit.

• Read Nolan's complaint here.
• Read the fire union's grievance here.

The 29-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a woman on a running trail in Avon was linked to the crime after police found his DNA under the victim's fingernails, according to the warrant for his arrest.

Luis Ortiz-Morales was arrested in Chicopee, Massachusetts, last month. Authorities said he showed up at the police station to ask why investigators were at his house.

Police said Ortiz-Morales, who was driving a portable toilet pump truck for United Site Services, grabbed a jogger from behind and dragged her into the bushes around noon June 25 on the Rails to Trails path near Scoville Road in Avon.

He hit the woman in the mouth and on the head, then put his hand down her pants, according to police. The woman fought back and ended up with Ortiz-Morales's DNA under her fingernails.

Ortiz-Morales denied sexually assaulting the woman when police confronted him, according to the arrest warrant.

He was charged with first-degree sexual assault and first-degree kidnapping.

Police said he was previously arrested three times in Massachusetts: twice for drug possession in 2005 and once in 2010 on motor vehicle charges.

He was also accused of sexually assaulting his ex-wife's 4-year-old child in Holyoke, Massachusetts, but was never arrested because the child's allegations were not specific and police couldn't find any evidence, according to police.

When NBC Connecticut reached out to United Sites Services for comment last month, a representative for the company said Ortiz-Morales' "termination from the company is in process."

"First and foremost, our thoughts are with the victim of this violent crime. Like the rest of the community, we are appalled by this reprehensible act and we have been actively assisting local authorities with their investigation and will continue to assist them in any way we can," the company said in a statement in July.

Plans to build a $100 million outlet mall in Cheshire have been scrapped.

Massachusetts-based WS Development Associates said Monday it will not move forward with the project, which would entail a 510,000-square-foot retail center comprising about 65 stores.

The outlets would have been located off Interstate 691 and Route 10.

When the development was first announced in 2013, the company said it aimed to begin construction in early 2014 and open the outlets this summer.

Tanger Outlets was also involved in the project but broke off the partnership with WS Development in January.

With homicides in Hartford now at 20 for the year, the city's police chief is outlining a new non-traditional approach to fighting crime that he hopes will help cut down on retaliation.

During a meeting with Mothers United Against Violence Monday night, Chief James Rovella outlined his new idea.

"Let's stop retaliation. Let's stop it right now," Rovella told the group.

Rovella said he wants to ink a formal deal with the group for a one-year project to reduce retaliation after violent crimes.

"These are mothers and families that have suffered a great loss, and folks listen to them, as they should," said Rovella.

He's hoping members will continue reaching out to those affected by violence, but in a more sophisticated way.

Under his vision, they'll get access to real-time information about crimes, and a $10,000 to $15,000 budget from the federal asset forfeiture program to deliver their message, Rovella said.

"To help them say listen, there's services available for you and there's also, let's not retaliate. Let's cooperate with the police. Let the police handle it and it's not a matter for their family because they'll just lose those family members to violence or to jail," said Rovella.

The chief stressed he's not looking to put members in danger or have them provide information about crimes.

"I'm hoping it will begin to open the doors to conversation a little more. I'm also hoping that it prevents retaliation because those are the numbers that we want to prevent in the long run," said Rovella.

Reverend Sam Saylor lost his son, Shane Oliver, to gun violence in Hartford back in 2012.

"It's definitely a testament to the work that's been going on," said Saylor, who's part of Mothers United Against Violence. "This gives us some attention and some funds to really put people to work and send them out there to do the work that they need cause we don't need street retaliation."

Details of the agreement have yet to be finalized.

It's expected to take about a month to draft a memorandum of understanding, according to Rovella.

After that, the proposal will have to get approval from the mayor and others before the project moves forward.

When an Enfield mom ventured into the woods of Granby with her teenage daughter and a family friend last week, no one expected the outing to be her last.

Margaret Johansen, 42, drove out to an area known as "the gorge" Wednesday with her 17-year-old daughter and a friend, who was navigating.

"There was like a waterfall that you could slide down," recalled Johansen's daughter, Caitlin. "It was a steep, like, rocky hill. So we started to go down, and she stepped where there was a bee hive."

Johansen, who suffers from asthma, was stung and had trouble making it back up the hill to her car. Her daughter found an expired Epipen in the glove compartment and used it in desperation. Doctors later Johansen she went into anaphylactic shock and cardiac arrest.

"She was like, 'I’m going to pass out.' I told her that she wasn’t going to, that she was going to stay with me," Caitlin Johansen said.

Caitlin Johansen and her friend called 911, then drove Margaret Johansen to the Bloomfield fire station, where police and paramedics met them.

Margaret Johansen never woke up. Doctors could not say exactly what killed her. She did not undergo an autopsy, and her daughter said she had been stung by bees before and never had a reaction.

"She went out of her way to make sure that everybody was taken care of," said Caitlin Johansen, who described her mother as her best friend. "A mother and daughter who are so close and like just like they’re best friends first, and mother daughter second, and that’s exactly how we were."

A single mom, Johansen did everything with her daughter. Now, as Caitlin Johansen prepares to head off to Hofstra University in New York next weekend, she struggles to mark the milestone without her mother.

"You always picture that day like being with your mom. You’re starting the next part of your life and you expect her to be there," said Caitlin Johansen.

While she may not have her mom by her side, Caitlin Johansen said received amazing support from family and friends.

"There’s just so many people that she has touched that like need or want to help me," she said as her eyes welled up with tears. "People are going out of their way to make sure that I’m OK and make sure everything I need is taken care of. It’s overwhelming in the best way possible."

As grim new details emerged on Monday about the Arizona man accused of decapitating his wife, officials released a video of Kenneth Wakefield's first court appearance in which he appeared to interrupt the proceedings with a startling shriek, NBC News reported.

Wakefield, 43, told police that he beheaded his wife, Trina Heisch, 49, because "he was trying to get the evil out of" her, according to a court document released Monday.

Police discovered Heisch's body in the couple's blood-soaked apartment on July 25, after a neighbor called 911. Officers also found several bloody knives in the apartment, the document says, and "Trina had multiple stab wounds to her torso along with defensive wounds to her hands and arms."

A boat parade sailed along the coast of Jupiter, Florida, Monday evening in a show of support for two teenagers missing from the town since they took a boat to sea more than a week ago.

The gathering of hundreds, all holding onto hope that search-and-rescue teams find Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen, both 14, who have now been missing for more than ten days.

"We're hoping and we're praying. It's a pretty small town and so I guess we're just hoping and praying for a miracle," said Heather Popi, who attended the parade.

The parading boats pushed through the water where the teens were last seen, as people holding candles lined the shore. Coast Guard teams scoured almost 50,000 square nautical miles off the Florida coast, finding their capsized boat but no sign of the boys.

Orlando Paz has been following the developments, from the private searches that took over for the Coast Guard, stretching from Florida to the Carolinas, to how this community copes.

"Even though I'm from Miami, I come here a lot. People here in this town– you feel so together and you feel the pain," Paz said.

Total strangers have been united by sorrow and faith, and families like Heather Wood's held each other tight, hoping they'll never be forced to let go.

"I live in Jupiter and I want to support our town and having two young kids, try to get them to understand what could happen, you know, if they were missing," Wood said.

The rescue fund Kickstarter for Perry and Austin stood at over $450,000 Monday night, about 80 percent of the families' goal. The fund pays for resources that keep planes and boats searching the sea for the boys.

A central Florida woman is set to appear in court Monday after authorities say she shot and stabbed her father and 6-year-old daughter and left their bodies in plastic bins in her landlord's shed.

According to a report from NBC affiliate WFLA, 25-year-old Cheyanne Jessie, of Lakeland, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of tampering with evidence in death of her father, 50-year-old Mark Weekly, and her 6-year-old daughter, Meredith Jessie.

Weekly and the girl were last seen on July 18th at his Lakeland home. According to reports, Meredith was left in her grandfather's care. The two were reported missing Saturday by a family member.

In a press conference Sunday, Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said Jessie killed her daughter over concerns that the child would interfere with her relationship with her boyfriend.

Authorities have not determined the motive behind the killing of her father.

Neighbors told WFLA that Jessie would often complain about her daughter's behavior, but said that the child did not have issue while in the care of her grandfather.

Deputies say that after Jessie murdered her father and daughter, she watched an episode of the television show "Criminal Minds" which gave her the idea to get rid of the bodies by stuffing them in plastic bins. Jessie then moved the bodies to her landlord's shed in the yard.

The decomposing bodies were discovered Sunday.

Jessie remains at the Polk County Jail. It is not known if she has hired an attorney.

A man wanted for murder in Puerto Rico was arrested Monday evening at a Willimantic gas station.

Willimantic police said a SWAT team began tracking the movements of 20-year-old Kevin J. Nieves-Caban after receiving a tip that he was in the city.

SWAT converged on the Mobil station at 18 Boston Post Road around 6:30 p.m. and took Nieves-Caban into custody.

Police said authorities in Puerto Rico signed a warrant for his arrest in December 2014.

"We are excited to have him in custody. The authorities in Puerto Rico are excited to have him in custody, and we were able to do it without incident or danger to the public or residents of the city," Willimantic police spokesman Cpl. Stanley Parizo said Monday night.

Nieves-Caban was arrested and charged as a fugitive from justice. He was held on $5 million bond and is due in Danielson Superior Court on Tuesday.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

A man is in critical condition after he was stabbed eight times in Hartford on Monday night, according to police.

Police said the assault happened at 132 Collins Street. The victim, who was stabbed in the neck, head, upper back and arms, was on the second floor and the hallway was covered in blood, police said.

The victim was rushed to Saint Francis Hospital for treatment.

Hartford police have taken a suspect into custody. The person was covered in blood and running from the scene.

Police have not released the names of the suspect or the victim.

The Hartford Police Department's Major Crimes Division is investigating.

Wild storms that moved through Connecticut this morning might have caused one death and there is a threat for more storms this afternoon.

Groton town police are investigating a fatal accident at at Flanders Road and Route 1 and believe a tree fell on the car or the car slammed into a downed tree during the strong storms. 

Thunder, lightning and heavy rain swept through the state early on Tuesday morning, causing damage and bringing down trees and wires. The worst of the storm, however, hit Rhode Island, Cape Cod, and the North Shore in Massachusetts.

It’s not yet clear if the lightning is to blame for a fire at condos in Groton, but the fire was reported around the time a thunderstorm was coming through.

Storms also appear to have caused a road closure in Bethel. Route 6 is closed between Weed Road and Old Hawleyvill Road because a tree and wires are down.

In Hebron, Route 85 was closed as 5:30 a.m. after a tree and wires came down.

As the day goes on, temperatures will be in the 80s to near 90 today and more rain and thunderstorms will fire up this afternoon.

While we're bracing for more storms, they are not expected to pop up in all parts of the state.
 

A fisherman who was thrown overboard and was forced to tread water for about four hours amid a powerful storm off New Jersey’s coast Saturday night said the love for his wife and two young sons kept him alive.

"I just couldn't picture the next day somebody coming to tell them I'm not going to be home anymore because I knew it would ruin their lives," Damian Sexton told NBC10 in Philadelphia as he fought back tears. "And I love them too much for that."

Sexton, 45, was on a 40-foot fishing boat with his friend about 44 miles east of Cape May, New Jersey, when they got caught in a storm. 

"The boat went this way and I fell right out," Sexton said. "It was a big thunderstorm, giant bolts of lightning, just waves that were huge."

Sexton's friend, who was still on the boat, made a mayday call to the Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay but was unable to stop the vessel. 

"I didn't have a chance to show him how to operate the autopilot," Sexton said. "So I think that's the reason the boat kept going."

Sexton, who didn't have a life jacket on, was left stranded in the middle of the storm. Desperate to survive and make it home to his family, Sexton started swimming, following a container ship for about ten miles. 

"The wind was so bad," Sexton said. "It was blowing me back or it was blowing the ship away from me."

Unable to feel his legs and his arms cramping up, Sexton admits he began to feel hopeless. 

"I coughed water out of my lungs so many times and all I would have had to do was take one breath of water and it was over," he said.

Fortunately for Sexton, help was on the way. The Coast Guard launched a C-130 "Hercules" aircraft from the Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Air Station and an MH-65 "Dolphin" helicopter from the Atlantic City Air Station. A boat crew from the Cape May Coast Guard Station joined in the rescue effort as well. They located Sexton around 2 a.m. Sunday and threw him a life preserver so he could get back onto his boat until the rescue crew could take him for medical help. 

When the helicopter arrived, crews hoisted Sexton aboard and flew him to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City for treatment. The incredible rescue was captured on video.

"He was wrapped up on a blanket on his couch and was just seizing and convulsing," said Christopher Lynch, the Coast Guard member in the video who grabbed Sexton. 

Sexton is alive and doing well, thanks to the heroic efforts of the Coast Guard as well as the love of his family that inspired him to fight for his survival. 

"I love him more than anything," Sexton's wife Robin told NBC10. "I mean that with every ounce of my body."

Two people are in critical condition after being shot outside the PNC Bank Arts Center in Central New Jersey following a hip hop concert Monday night, police said.

NJ State Police said the unidentified victims were shot sometime around 11 p.m. outside the arena, which is in Holmdel, after a performance by artists J. Cole and Big Sean.

The victims were taken to Jersey Shore Hospital.

Police say they are looking for a lone shooter in a wooded area near the arena.

Witnesses said the shooting started after an argument in the PNC parking lot.

J. Cole and Big Sean are scheduled to perform at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

One person was killed in an accident in the Mystic section of Groton and it appears the storms this morning are to blame.

Police are still investigating. At first, they said they believe a person was killed when a tree fell on a car as strong storms came through. Then, the chief at the scene said it's not clear if the tree fell on the car or if the driver hit the tree.

The incident happened at Flanders Road and Route 1 and the road is closed.

No additional information was immediately available and police have not yet released the person’s name.

Check back for updates.
 

A 33-year-old man was shot several times in Hartford on Tuesday morning during an attempted robbery.

Police responded to 361 Hillside Ave. in Hartford at 5:13 a.m. after receiving a 911 call reporting that gunshots had been fired and found the victim and a witness outside.

The victim had been shot several times, in the abdomen and twice in the left leg, according to police.

They told officers they were walking south on Hillside Avenue when two people approached them and demanded their money, but they refused.

One of the would-be robbers then pulled a pistol, shot the victim several times and fled, going south on Hillside Avenue.

The victim’s injuries are not life-threatening, according to police. An ambulance transported him to Hartford Hospital.

The victim and witness said they do not believe they could identify the assailants.

Police have not identified any suspects and are investigating.