Family of Hartford double homicide victim faced nothing but ‘pain, death’ in recent years
A man shot and killed during a double homicide in Hartford on Sunday has been identified as the son of a man killed by police near a Springfield casino earlier this year.
William Tisdol, 23, was pronounced dead following a shooting at about 1:52 a.m. on Sunday in the area of his residence on Sterling Street, according to the Hartford Police Department. Police responded to a ShotSpotter notification and found two men suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Tisdol had previously survived a shooting in the same area in September 2020, federal court records show.
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Tisdol’s father, also named William, was shot and killed on Feb. 25 following an incident at the MGM Springfield Casino. During that incident, the older Tisdol was shot when members of the Massachusetts State Police Gaming Enforcement Unit chased him as he was leaving the casino following the report of a man acting aggressive and possibly armed with a firearm, according to the Hampden County District Attorney’s office.
The Hampden County DA’s office concluded the investigation “into the death of Mr. William Tisdol has followed this same protocol and concludes that the troopers acted in the lawful exercise of their duties and used only necessary and reasonable force in both self-defense and defense of others.”
The senior Tisdol had been outspoken about police transparency when another son, Caleb Tisdol, was one of two people injured by police in December 2017 after five New Britain officers opened fire at a car they tried to pull over while investigating a series of robberies and carjackings. Caleb Tisdol was 15 years old at the time.
Zoe Dowdell, 20, a rapper known as Gangstalicious, was killed during the shooting that injured Caleb. The officers involved were found to be justified in their use of deadly force, as the vehicle Dowdell was driving was on the sidewalk and headed toward officers.
Hartford man killed near casino was father of teen injured by police
“This is a lot like a Greek tragedy, but it happened to a Black family,” Cornell Lewis, a community activist and founder of the Self Defense Brigade, said upon hearing 23-year-old William Tisdol was killed in a shooting that also took the life of 27-year-old Hakeem Dickson.
The Tisdol family, Lewis said, has dealt with nothing but “pain, anguish and death.”
“I’m sorry that this happened to their family,” Lewis said. “It’s just another blow to their family unit.”
Lewis said he consoled the older Tisdol’s wife earlier this year following her husband’s death — which came about six months after Caleb Tisdol was sentenced to 12 years in prison following a number of robberies at the age of 15 and, after bonding out of jail, being involved in additional robberies.
“She was crying uncontrollably,” Lewis said. “I didn’t know what to tell her.”
Lewis said he had advocated for Caleb Tisdol, helping his father secure his bail money, and did not know much about his other son William.
“He didn’t present himself the same way Caleb did,” Lewis said of the 23-year-old Tisdol. “I never heard anything about him.”
According to state and federal court records, the 23-year-old Tisdol also had run-ins with the law. State court records reviewed Monday indicated Hartford police arrested him in March 2020 before he was sentenced to two years in prison on one count of carrying a pistol without a permit.
According to federal court records, Tisdol was critically injured during a shooting on Sterling Street in Hartford in September 2020. A female companion of his was also injured in the shooting.
Hartford police found a .380 caliber handgun at the scene, which they said William Tisdol, who was 20 at the time, used during a gunfight with the unidentified assailants. The gun had an obliterated serial number.
Tisdol, when he was 22 years old, was sentenced in October 2021 to 18 months in prison for being in possession of the firearm after receiving a six-month sentence a month prior for his role in a grab-and-go scheme that ended in an indictment against Tisdol and seven other individuals.
Federal Bureau of Prisons records indicate the 23-year-old had just been released from prison in May.
“They have been struck by enough tragedy,” Lewis said of the Tisdol family. “I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
Hartford police are still investigating the double homicide on Sunday and are asking anyone with information to call the department’s tip line at 860-722-TIPS (8477).