At least three people were wounded on Wednesday in Massachusetts in a daytime shooting, including a pregnant woman whose baby subsequently died while being delivered, according to police.
Police were called to a shooting in the city of Holyoke at 12.38pm, according to officials, after a group of three men were involved in an altercation in the street.
The men fired more than six shots, witnesses told WWLP, striking at least three people, including the pregnant woman, who was on a bus.
“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,” Boyd McCray of Chicopee told WGGB.
She was rushed to hospital in critical condition, where she delivered her baby.
“The infant, who was delivered, and needed life-saving medical services, tragically passed away,” the Hampden District Attorney’s Office told The Associated Press.
Police have arrested three men believed to have been involved in the shooting, the AP reports. They are receiving treatment in nearby hospitals and comprise the others wounded in the shooting, WBAL reports.
A shooting in Holyoke, Massachusetts, injured at multiple people, including a pregnant woman, on 4 October— (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
There is “not believed to be any ongoing threat to the public” Massachusetts State Police spokesperson David Procopio told Western Mass News.
The Holyoke Police and Massachusetts State Police are investigating the incident.
“I want to extend my deepest and sincerest condolences to the family,” Holyoke mayor Joshua A Garcia wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. “I want the public to know that I am equally outraged and frustrated with these senseless acts of violence and illegal activity on our streets. I struggle with it every day attempting to offer a balanced solution. Quite frankly, I have lost my patience. I plan to work with all resources available to me to push this nonsense out of our city. “
The city’s ShotSpotter gunfire detection system has recorded 113 incidents in the last six months, 99 of which occured near a playground or school, according to officials.
“I know one of the big factors people always think, ‘Someone will call, I heard it, but someone else will call.’ They’re not calling,” Holyoke police Chief David Pratt said earlier in the day, before the shooting, encouraging residents to report instances of gun violence. “Know that if that’s the reason, call. Because we need the information. ShotSpotter is doing an amazing job getting us into the area, into the right area, of where we need to be. We need the public to help us with these calls to bring it home so that we can make arrests, we can recover evidence quicker.”
Other cities nearby including Boston, Worcester, and Springfield have deployed the ShotSpotter system, which uses microphones to detect the location of gun shots.
