Springfield Police Officer Shot, Seven Suspects Arrested, Seven Firearms Recovered
Springfield, Mass. — A Springfield Police Officer is at a Boston area hospital today after being shot Wednesday night on State Street.
Around 10:40 p.m. Wednesday Detectives in the Springfield Police Firearms Investigation Unit were on an unrelated investigation on College Street when they were shot at by individuals in a Honda Civic.
About two minutes later as assisting Detectives were trying to locate the Civic, occupants of a Jeep Cherokee began firing at an unmarked cruiser with an AR-15 style rifle and other firearm(s) near the intersection of State Street and Hunter Place. The shooter(s) struck the cruiser approximately five times, but the officers were not hit. The shooter(s) then turned their attention to an officer who came across the shooting on his way into work. The officer drove and stopped his car on the 600 block of State Street. Our Detectives and a Squad Supervisor rushed him to Baystate. He was shot in the face and the leg.
The officer has been a Springfield Police Officer for seven years. He was an officer in Central Massachusetts prior to that. In 2023, he was a recipient of the Department’s highest honor, the Medal of Valor. He suffered serious injuries, but they are believed to be non-life threatening. This morning, he was transferred to a Boston area hospital. Out of respect to his family, we are not releasing his name at this time, and we ask our media partners not to do so either.
As officers continued to search for the suspect vehicles, members of the Springfield Police Detective Bureau located the Civic in the area of Riverview Terrace as the three occupants were taken into custody on the I-91 on ramp. The driver struck two DOT workers. One worker was seriously injured. Four firearms were recovered. Two of the firearms had Glock Switches attached, making those firearms fully automatic.
The Jeep was located at a home on Randall Place, three suspects were arrested, and three firearms were recovered. A fourth suspect, 31-year-old Jaime Griffin was arrested at the home. FIU Detectives applied for and were granted a search warrant for the home. FIU Detectives and Massachusetts State Police Detectives executed the search warrant around 5:00 a.m. seizing additional firearm magazines and ammunition.
The Springfield Police Detective Bureau under the direction of Captain Trent Duda are investigating the incidents.
Springfield Police Superintendent Lawrence E. Akers stated, “First, I want to send out my thoughts and prayers to our injured officer and his family. We will be by his side throughout the recovery process and I want his family to know that we’ll be here for him. I also wish the DOT worker who was injured a speedy recovery. I am incredibly proud of our officers involved who were shot at, had to see a fellow officer shot and still were able to get every single suspect and seven illegal firearms off our streets during a very difficult night. The professionalism they showed speaks volumes about their character and work ethic. Every officer working chipped in to make sure these suspects were not able to continue this brazen behavior that put our officers and our citizens in the line of fire. Every day our officers come into work not knowing what they will face, but I can say without a doubt that when they face these potentially deadly situations they do so with courage and are a testament to the profession.”
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno states, “First of all my thoughts, prayers, and encouragement for good health and a speedy recovery go out to our brave and decorated officer and to his family, and to the Mass DOT workers and others who were subject to these wanton criminal acts. Just two days ago we marked the twelfth anniversary of Officer Kevin Ambrose making the ultimate sacrifice to save a mother and her child. Thank God we’re not facing the same situation right now with our brave, dedicated, and decorated officer who was shot in the face and the leg. This was a massive and sprawling multiple area crime scene and I want to commend the Springfield Police Department and the men and women of our State Police and the efforts of Senior Captain Trent Duda, Deputy Chief Steve Kent, FIU Commander Captain Brian Keenan, and Superintendent Akers for being able to arrest all those involved and take 7 more guns off our streets and out of our neighborhoods in a quick fashion. I appreciate the outreach of state Public Safety and Security Secretary Terrence Reidy for any assistance we might need. It once again comes down to and what assistance that is desperately needed is that all these individuals are repeat violent criminal offenders all with prior firearm charges and many out with current firearms charges. Many of the individuals are of a young age, even a juvenile who is out after shooting another person. So the real help we need is for our court system and some of our judges to keep these repeat violent criminal offenders locked up off our streets and out of our neighborhoods. By not doing this, and as Captain Keenan indicated, in the debriefings with the individuals they arrest they fear no repercussion from the courts which in turn emboldens them to create more havoc on our streets, in our neighborhoods, to our residents and businesses. And too with the young ages of these individuals, where are their families to stay on top of them? No matter how many millions of dollars we pump into education and active youth development, individuals such as these go down a different negative path. So the help we really need is from our court system and some of our judges to keep these repeat violent criminal offenders locked up, and we need families to step up. I will continue to push my bail reform legislation through state Representative Puppolo. This could have been a far worse situation that could have been prevented if these individuals had been locked up.”
Arrested from the Civic near the I-91 On-Ramp:
18-year-old Robert Willis III, 18-year-old Alberto Torres and a 17-year-old male all from Springfield.
Arrested from the Jeep on Randall Place:
18-year-old Isak Font, 26-year-old Dwight Clarke and a 16-year-old male all from Springfield. All face numerous firearms charges. Font, Clarke and the 16-year-old are alleged to have shot the unmarked cruiser and the officer.
Arrested on Randall Place:
31-year-old Jaime Griffin of Springfield. He faces firearms charges.
Five of the suspects including Font have been previously arrested on firearms charges. The 16-year-old is out on bail in connection with a shooting. Clarke had an outstanding firearms warrant.