A woman involved in the incident is believed to have suffered gunshot wounds to the hand.
SPRINGFIELD -- Police, responding to a report of a domestic violence incident in the city's Upper Hill Neighborhood, killed one man in an exchange of gunfire this morning.
Sgt. John Delaney, aide to Commissioner William Fitchet, told WHYN 560 Radio that the officers were greeted by gunfire when they arrived at the scene in the vicinity of Albemarle and Braddock streets between 5:30 and 6 a.m.
This photo shows a Springfield police car at the corner of Albermarle Street and Westford Circle after gunfire was exchanged in the area. Police units were at the scene of the shootings. The woman involved in the incident is believed to have suffered gunshot wounds to the hand.
At the scene shortly after 7 a.m., strong police presence could be seen on Albermarle Street and one street away, on Braddock Street. A police cruiser, with a blown right front tire, was parked in the area of Braddock and Westford Circle.
The intersections of Albermarle and Westford and Braddock and Westford, were cordoned off with yellow police tape.
A third scene on Albermarle, halfway between Westford and Wilbraham Road, also remains under investigation.
Delaney said the suspect, who he did not identify, was armed with a shotgun. The area was placed under lockdown for a period of time, but as of 8 a.m., "the neighborhood is safe," Delaney reported.
Albemarle Street residents Wanda Rivera and Taisha Scott said they heard multiple gunshots – perhaps as many as a dozen – around 6:15 a.m. The women said they heard an initial volley of three or four shots, followed by a pause, and then a flurry of additional shots.
Scott said she thought she was hearing firecrackers. Both women said they were shocked to learn a man had been killed by police gunfire in what they described as their safe and normally quiet neighborhood.
"I have been here for a year. It's always quiet," Rivera said. Scott interjected: "Well, it used to be."
View Scene of police-involved shooting, Albemarle Street, Springfield in a larger map
This is a developing story; more details will be posted on MassLive.com as they become available.