Police: Olympian’s mother killed as unintentional target amid drug dispute

Mabel Martinez, 56, was shot in the head inside her Waterbury home on Saturday afternoon when at least two people opened fire outside on the street. Martinez was the mother of Yarimar Mercado Martinez, a rifle shooter on the Puerto Rico Olympic team.

By

National News

April 12, 2022 - 4:18 PM

The mother of a Puerto Rican Olympian killed by a stray bullet in her Connecticut home was an unintended victim of a drug dispute that erupted into the firing of more than 20 gunshots, a police official said Tuesday.

Mabel Martinez, 56, was shot in the head inside her Waterbury home on Saturday afternoon when at least two people opened fire outside on the street, Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said at a news conference. No arrests were announced.

Martinez was the mother of Yarimar Mercado Martinez, a rifle shooter on the Puerto Rico Olympic team who competed in the summer Olympics last year and in 2016. She and other family members were in Waterbury on Tuesday, but did not speak at the news conference.

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