Infant dead, others injured in Holyoke shooting
HOLYOKE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – Authorities have released new information into an afternoon shooting along a busy Holyoke roadway.
Jim Leydon, spokesperson for the Hampden District Attorney’s Office, said that Holyoke Police were called to the 100 block of Sargeant Street Wednesday afternoon.
When our crews first arrived earlier in the afternoon, there was a massive police response at the intersection of Maple and Sargeant Streets. Holyoke Police told us that is where a shooting took place and there were “multiple victims.”
Investigators believe that three men were involved in an altercation when the shooting occurred. One of the rounds is believed to have hit a PVTA bus and a female who was on the bus.
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“This victim, who was pregnant, was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition. The infant, who was delivered, and needed life-saving medical services, tragically passed away,” Leydon explained.
Our Western Mass News cameras also captured multiple people standing around watching the police response on the scene. We spoke with Boyd McCray of Chicopee, who said he was waiting to catch a different bus to Chicopee before everything happened.
“I heard about eight shots. I was standing on the street, waiting on the bus, and I just heard pop, pop, pop, pop, then I saw one police coming down and then I saw about a thousand more come after that,” McCray explained.
Holyoke Public School officials told Western Mass News that a shelter-in-place was enacted at the Lawrence School for approximately 40 minutes Wednesday afternoon as a result of the incident.
All the suspects believed to have been involved in the incident were taken into custody and were transported to local hospitals. Mass. State Police spokesperson David Procopio noted that “there is not believed to be any ongoing threat to the public.”
The PVTA released a statement about the incident and said: “This is an extremely tragic incident that took place and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim and her family”.
Maple Street was closed between Sargeant Street and Hampshire Street for much of Wednesday afternoon, but has since reopened.
The case remains under investigation by Holyoke Police and State Police detectives assigned to the D.A.’s office.
Western Mass News will continue to follow this story and will have the latest as it becomes available.
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