An afternoon shooting at the Fort Hale Gardens apartment complex in New Haven ended in two deaths and a critical injury on June 22, 2026. Eighteen-year-old Malaki Caraballo Jr. and 20-year-old Jayden Martinez were fatally wounded in an exchange of gunfire; a 24-year-old man from Waterbury was also shot and survived. The victims were not found at the scene by responding officers and were transported to hospitals in private vehicles. Martinez was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital and later died; Caraballo was dropped off at Smilow Cancer Hospital and was pronounced dead there.

Police say the shooting was not random and that preliminary work points to an altercation between two separate groups of men who knew each other. Ballistic evidence was recovered on Woodward Avenue and key items were being processed at the state lab. As of early July 2026 no arrests had been announced; investigators said they had a possible motive but declined to release details. Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives or use the department’s anonymous tip line. If readers knew Malaki or have information about what happened that afternoon, please share what you can with investigators.