Police arrested two men early Wednesday in connection with a drive-by shooting Nov. 6 that left a 10-year-old girl with a gunshot wound to her face.

Deputy Chief Brian Foley said the accused shooter, a 17-year-old from Hartford, was presented in juvenile court Wednesday. The accused driver, Kwanze Fluker, 22, of Bloomfield, is a suspect in other recent shootings in the Blue Hills neighborhood.

Fluker was arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Superior Court on Lafayette Street on a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree assault in the shooting. Police served an additional warrant for a separate shooting, one that occurred Oct. 30 on Blue Hills Avenue, according to Foley.

Investigators were led to Fluker after shell casings from that earlier shooting were identified as a positive match to ones found at the scene of the Nov. 6 incident, according to an arrest warrant filed by police. His bail for both cases was set at $2 million.

Foley said Fluker and his alleged accomplice were taken into custody about 6 a.m. and were questioned for several hours by major crimes division detectives.

"We've got a neighborhood, a community and a city that were traumatized by this shooting and rightfully so," Foley said. The shooting of the 10-year-old came during a rash of shootings and retaliation shootings, Foley said. "The 10-year-old and her family had nothing to do with any of this," he said.

Fluker was taken into custody at his home in Bloomfield with the assistance of Bloomfield police. "He's a suspect in other shootings and we also have an arrest warrant for him for another shooting in the area," Foley said.

The 17-year-old was arrested in Hartford, although Foley said he could not say where because he is considered a juvenile. Juveniles accused in serious crimes frequently have their cases transferred to adult court. He is charged with first-degree assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, unlawful discharge of a firearm and reckless endangerment.

Foley said the 9mm Glock handgun police think was used in the shooting was found in Fluker's bedroom. It had been reported stolen out of Glastonbury. The car that the two suspects rode to the scene in was recovered last week in Manchester, he added.

Ariana Wilson was shot in the jaw just before 4 p.m. Nov. 6 inside her family's home on Branford Street in the Blue Hills neighborhood of Hartford. Foley said the bullet was not intended for her and that her "immediate family had nothing to do with the shooting."

Their house was "chosen by mistake by the suspects," he added: A member of the Wilsons' extended family was the target of the shooting, but wasn't residing on Branford Street when the incident took place.

Ariana has undergone treatment at Connecticut Children's Medical Center. A bullet remains lodged beneath Ariana's eye, Foley said. It is scheduled to be removed this week and doctors are hopeful her vision will not be damaged, he said.

Foley said finding those who fired into Ariana's house has been a priority for police since the shooting, putting it "at the top of their list."

"It's disgusting and nauseating to have to watch and go through something like that," Foley said. "And while I want to tell you that every investigation gets the same level of effort from our officers and detectives, I think it would be wrong to imply that's not the case here."

In recent weeks, there's been a "significant increase" in gunfire in Blue Hills, an uptick that investigators attribute to an ongoing dispute between rival groups.

That increase helped police pursue Ariana's case, Foley said.

"Early on, within hours of the shooting, we had a group of suspects. Within a day, we had it narrowed down," Foley said. "Once we snagged the car, it was only a matter of time, and that time was this morning."

News of the arrests Wednesday heartened community activists who have been supporting the Wilsons since the shooting.

"It's a wonderful feeling to be able to wake up this morning and know this family will have some sort of relief just before the holiday," said the Rev. Henry Brown, of Mothers United Against Violence. "This is truly something to be thankful for."

Brown's anti-violence organization held a rally Saturday on the steps of city hall, calling for the community to help in bringing the men responsible for Ariana's shooting to justice.

And though he expressed the "utmost gratitude" to the police for their efforts in pursuing the case, he had a stern message for the citizens of Hartford.

"As long as we stay silent, these senseless acts will keep happening in our neighborhoods," he said. "We can't rely on police to be everywhere at one time. We have to start policing ourselves."