GREENFIELD — Investigators believe the shooting that occurred on Water Street on Wednesday afternoon may be “very narrowly related” to the September shooting at 136 Conway St., according to Police Chief Todd Dodge.
It’s believed that the victim in Wednesday’s shooting, an adult male, has some connection to the apartment building on Conway Street, Dodge said, and he may have been targeted a second time, this time in the area of 28 and 36 Water St. A motive behind the shooting, and the exact relationship between the victim and the suspects, is still being investigated.
In highlighting this connection between the two incidents on Conway and Water streets, Dodge stressed that these are both considered to be isolated in nature, and that no threat exists to the larger community.
No injuries were reported during the September incident in which several gunshots were fired at the building. On Wednesday, the victim was shot in the arm.
According to Dodge, the victim was first taken by ambulance to Baystate Franklin Medical Center before being airlifted to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for further treatment. An operation removed at least one bullet from the man’s arm, he said.
Two suspects were reported fleeing at around 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday in a silver Kia or Honda sedan. One suspect was described as wearing a black ski mask, a black bubble winter jacket and black sweatpants with white lettering down the leg.
The Greenfield Police Department sent out a reverse 911 notification just before 4 p.m. providing incident information. Dodge said both he and Greenfield Mayor Ginny Desorgher received positive feedback regarding the use of the reverse 911 system.
A search warrant was executed on Water Street to establish where the shooting took place, with Massachusetts State Police assisting. Dodge said the work by first responders “was fantastic” and a lot of information was gleaned on Water Street to further the investigation.
As more information is gathered, Dodge said he plans to use the same reverse 911 system to provide updates to the public. He encourages residents to sign up for notifications at tinyurl.com/3ukk2au2.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting should call the Greenfield Police Department at 413-773-5411.
