Three people were shot on Wednesday afternoon in Holyoke, a city in western Massachusetts.
The shooting reportedly happened in the intersection of Maple and Sargeant streets just before 1pm on Wednesday.
One of the victims was reportedly on a bus passing through the intersection,
Holyoke police have asked the public to avoid the area while they investigate.
Holyoke’s Mayor Joshua Garcia’s office confirmed in a statement that the mayor was aware of the shooting.
“At shortly before 1 p.m. today, a shooting occurred at the junction of Maple and Sargeant Streets in Holyoke, resulting in multiple gunshot victims. The police inquiry is actively in progress,” the statement said.
Witnesses believe the shots may have been fired on or near a city bus at the intersection.
“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, a witness, told Western Massachusetts News.
Massachusetts State Police spokesperson David Procopio seemed to confirm the bus information, saying “some of the victims were on a bus that was passing through the area”, according to WGGB/WSHM.
A Holyoke police officer responds to a shooting with multiple victims in a downtown neighborhood of Holyoke, Massachusetts— (Holyoke Police Department)
Holyoke is approximately 90 miles west of Boston.
The shooting occurred just hours after the Holyoke Police Department held a news conference discussing the alarming amount of gunfire picked up by its ShotSpotter system. The ShotSpotter system, which detects the sound of gunfire and alerts police, was installed in March, according to WWLP.
The department said in the last six months the ShotSpotter had detected 113 gunfire incidents, 72 of which occurred near a playground, 27 near a school, and 110 near a business.
Police said they had recovered 457 rounds of ammunition, seven guns, and had made 10 arrests relating to the shootings.
