Multiple gunfire incidents kept investigators busy, including a fatal highway shooting of a motorist by a state trooper.
SPRINGFIELD — Authorities continue to investigate an incident in which city police officers and an ambulance crew came under fire near 659 State St. early Sunday.
It was among several gunfire episodes over the weekend in Springfield, including a fatal police shooting of a motorist by a state trooper following an Interstate 91 traffic stop.
Nobody was injured in the State Street shooting, reported shortly after 3 a.m., though an American Medical Response ambulance was struck by gunfire during the incident, police said. No arrests had been made as of early Monday, Springfield Police Lt. Thomas Maccini said.
A police cruiser and an AMR rig were handling a call on State Street between Stebbins and Terrence streets in the Mason Square neighborhood when a robbery victim being chased by two men approached and shots rang out. The public safety officials were uninjured, but a bullet did strike the ambulance, police said.
Details of the alleged robbery preceding the shooting were unavailable. The victim told authorities he was pistol-whipped before being chased and shot at by two assailants, both of whom remain at large. Police have asked anyone with information to call (413) 787-6355.
Also Sunday, a rookie Massachusetts State Police trooper shot and killed a motorist following a 12:20 a.m. altercation south of Exit 8 on Interstate 91 in Springfield.
The trooper, a 2012 police academy graduate stationed at the Springfield barracks, shot a 23-year-old city man after he started a fight with the trooper during an otherwise routine traffic stop, state police officials said.
Investigators said they found two loaded handguns with scratched-off serial numbers inside the man's BMW, which originally was stopped for speeding in the southbound lane of I-91. The driver became combative when the trooper asked for his license and registration and got into a "physical altercation" with the officer, state police spokesman David Procopio said in a news release. During that altercation, the trooper discharged his service weapon, striking the driver, Procopio said.
As the trooper radioed for backup, the injured man managed to drive from the scene and merge onto nearby Interstate 291. But he only drove for a short distance before crashing into a highway barrier, police said.
A 22-year-old passenger in the BMW injured her arm while attempting to flee, police said.
Early Saturday, Springfield police responded to a gunfire report outside 14 Revere St., a residence in the city's Forest Park section, and another report outside City View Commons II, an apartment complex at 926 Worthington St. near the eastern edge of Metro Center.
Police said multiple shell casings were recovered at both crime scenes, but there were no reported injuries. The spent casings on Revere Street appear to have been fired from an assault rifle, police said.