Trevin T. Smith is considered armed and dangerous.
Trevin SmithSPRINGFIELD – Police are looking for a new suspect involved in the shooting spree that left one man dead, two injured and two police officers shot Saturday afternoon.
State Police spokesman David Procopio said police are looking for Trevin T. Smith, 30, 79 Penrose St., who is being charged as an accessory after the fact to Saturday’s murder.
“We are not currently releasing what his involvement is in this situation, but he is armed and dangerous and if anyone sees him they should contact the Springfield barracks,” he said.
Smith is described as a black male, about 6 feet 2 inches tall and approximately 190 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to call the State Police Barracks in Springfield at (413)736-8390 or to send a text through the Text-A-Tip program. To Text-A-Tip, text 274637 from a cell phone, then type SOLVE and a message and hit send.
Procopio said officials have decided to wait until Tamik Kirkland has recuperated from his gunshot injuries before he is arraigned at Springfield District Court for allegedly killing Sheldon R. Innocent, shooting another man and shooting a Springfield police officer and a state trooper.
Kirkland is in the hospital in serious condition after being shot six times by police officers.
No further information is available on Innocent, 24, of Wilbraham, who was fatally wounded when Kirkland allegedly opened fire inside Bill Brown’s House of Beauty at 945 State St. around noontime Saturday.
Kirkland, 25, who escaped from state prison last week, is believed to have shot another man inside the barbershop before also injuring two police officers in a gunfight in the city’s Bay neighborhood. The officers survived the close-range shooting because both were wearing bulletproof vests, police said.
Officers quickly tracked Kirkland to 49 Cambridge St. — a residence located near the barbershop — where police watched the suspect enter the trunk of a car in the home’s driveway. After police ordered the female driver from the vehicle, the trunk popped open and Kirkland began shooting, hitting a plainclothes Springfield officer and a State Police trooper.
A 6-month-old baby found in the back seat of the vehicle was unharmed, police said. As of Sunday Procopio said the woman driving the vehicle has not been charged.
Kirkland was serving a sentence for firearm and drug charges when he escaped last week from a prison in Shirley. He remained under heavy police guard at Baystate Medical Center, where he underwent another round of early-morning surgery Sunday.
Prociopio said Kirkland is being charged with murder, three counts of armed assault with intent to murder, armed home invasion, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and illegal possession of a firearm, second offense.
Saturday’s dramatic events capped a month of violence in Springfield, including numerous shootings and other crimes in April. Police are investigating the possibility that Kirkland escaped from the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Shirley on April 24 to avenge the shooting of his mother, who was injured by gunfire on April 23 in Springfield’s North End. Police have confirmed that Kirkland’s mother, who was shot in the leg, was among two female gunshot victims on Ringold Street. The other woman initially was reported to be in critical condition at Baystate Medical Center, but her status wasn’t immediately known Sunday.
Procopio said they are not releasing any information on whether Innocent had anything to do with the Ringold Street shooting. \
Authorities said they launched a multiagency manhunt for Kirkland as soon as he was reported missing from MCI Shirley. Because of Kirkland’s affiliation with the Maynard Street Posse, a notorious Springfield gang, police suspected he might be armed and dangerous. Police have not released ballistics information about the incident, but it appears that more than 40 shots were fired based on reports from both shooting scenes.
Police have yet to identify the other man who was shot inside the barbershop, but both police officers are said to be recovering from the gun battle. The Springfield officer involved in the shooting was Raul Gonzalez, a 15-year veteran of the force. State police have not identified the trooper, who reportedly works in the Springfield barracks.
On Saturday police secured the State Street crime scene before fanning out across the area in search of Kirkland, who was seen fleeing north on Montrose Street, which leads to Cambridge Street. Kirkland reportedly has ties to the Cambridge Street address, but police have yet to elaborate.
The week leading up to the bloodshed included a double shooting Thursday on State Street, not far from the barbershop, and back-to-back gunplay Friday and Saturday just west of Cambridge Street in the neighboring McKnight section of the city. Authorities have not directly linked Kirkland to those incidents, which remain under investigation, but they speculated about his possible involvement.
“We are currently investigating whether yesterday’s events and a couple other shootings in city this past week were in any way connoted to or motivated by the non-fatal shooting of the defendant’ mother,” Procopio said.
Long-time city resident and Ward 4 City Councilor E. Henry Twiggs said one of the reasons people might have harbored Kirkland is that there is not enough communication between the police department and the community. He said more needs to be done to establish trust between the police department and the neighborhood residents.
“There is a level of distrust. No one wants to come forward,” he said.
Twiggs said another problem is the accessibility to firearms.
“These kids are picking up weapons that can take somebody’s life and they seem to have no understanding of that when they pull the trigger,” he said.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who was at the scene on Saturday, said he needs the community to come together to stop the violence. “Know your kids, know who their friends are, know where they are hanging out at night,” he said. “This type of incident should not be tolerated in any neighborhood in the city.”
Sarno said Springfield police and city officials will do their part to handle this incident, but they need the community to stand up and support them.
“This typo of life cannot be glamorized, it should be villainized. This whole idea of not snitching and protecting people who are killing residents in broad daylight is ridiculous. I hope people realize that if they don’t speak up next time it could be their friend or their bother who gets killed,” he said.