Trevin T. Smith, 30, is being charged as an accessory to Saturday's murder. A second suspect is recovering after being shot by police.
Police and paramedics attend to Tamik Kirkland, who is rushed to a waiting ambulance at the scene of a shooting on Saturday on Cambridge Street.SPRINGFIELD – Police are looking for a second suspect involved in the shooting spree Saturday afternoon that left one man dead and four injured, including two police officers and the suspected shooter.
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, according to David Procopio, State Police spokesman.
“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,” Procopio 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 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 the accused shooter, Tamik Kirkland, has recuperated from his gunshot injuries before he is arraigned at Springfield District Court for in connection with the killing of Sheldon R. Innocent and the shootings of three others, including a Springfield police officer and a state trooper.
Kirkland is in serious condition at Baystate Medical Center after being shot six times by police officers. He underwent a round of early morning surgery Sunday, and remained under heavy police guard at the hospital.
He is expected to survive, Procopio said.
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 noon 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 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, police said.
He was armed with a handgun when he allegedly shot the police officers. Procopio would not say what weapon was used to kill Innocent.
A 6-month-old baby girl found in the back seat of the vehicle was unharmed, police said. The woman driving the vehicle has not been charged, Procopio said.
Kirkland was serving a sentence for firearm and drug offenses when he escaped last week from the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Shirley.
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 April 24 to avenge the shooting of his mother, who was injured by gunfire a day earlier in an incident on Ringold Street, in Springfield’s North End.
Police have confirmed that Kirkland’s mother, who was shot in the leg, was among two female gunshot victims in that shooting. The other woman initially was reported to be in critical condition at Baystate Medical Center, but her status was not immediately known Sunday.
Procopio said police are not releasing any information on whether Innocent, the man killed in Saturday’s shooting, 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 was 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.
Innocent was a customer. The other man, whose wounds were not life-threatening, was a barber who was working in the shop, Procopio said.
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.
Both have been treated and released at the hospital for trauma resulting from the force of the bullet. The state trooper is likely to be given a few days off because of the shooting, Procopio said.
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.
Kirkland is also a suspect in a case where a house was shot multiple times, but no one was injured. Procopio did not have much information about that incident shooting.
“We are currently investigating whether (Saturday’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’s mother,” Procopio said.
Staff writers Connor Berry and Jeanette DeForge contributed to this report