A 19-year-old Springfield man will be arraigned on gun charges after allegedly fleeing the scene of an incident and then firing at police who returned fire. It happened on Lowell Street.
No reported injuries.Keniel Santiago was arrested on gun charges for now.
The Hampden County District Attorney’s office has taken over the investigation.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno states, “I have been steadfast in my clarion call to have our Court System hold repeat violent offenders. Last night, once again, an officer had a firearm pointed at him by an individual who has multiple open gun charges against him but yet is once again back on our streets to again, perpetuate harm and possible death whether to one of our brave and dedicated officers and/or residents. I reached out last night to the officer who faced this very traumatic situation head-on in order to protect our public, with words of encouragement. Again, I am not going to mince any words, ‘What the hell does it take to hold these gun-toting, repeat violent offenders?’ The Court System must do a much better job to not only protect all of our residents and business community but just as important back up our cops.”
Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood said, “I am urging the courts to ensure this individual is held after he is arraigned. His brazen actions that only seem to be emboldened by the lack of consequences he has faced in different court systems put not only our officers’ life in danger, but also dozens of innocent bystanders in our North End Neighborhood. Please keep this dangerous individual off our streets.”
Police say the suspect is well known to them and will be arraigned in District Court later today.