Police Chief James Neiswanger said the firearm was recovered.
HOLYOKE — Police are investigating an incident in which a Holyoke officer left his or her service weapon in a restroom at the Holyoke Mall last weekend.
Chief James Neiswanger declined to elaborate further on the incident, except to say that the firearm has been recovered and that the duty-status of the officer remains unchanged.
“Because it’s an open investigation, I really can’t comment on it,” he said. Neiswanger declined to give the gender of the officer or the exact day that the incident occurred.
Neiswanger said it was unclear when the results of the investigation, such as whether the officer will be disciplined, would be released.
In December 2011, Neiswanger suspended Sgt. John P. Hart five days without pay and ordered him to repay the city $2,000 for losing a department-issued sniper rifle.
The Remington 700 rifle became missing on Sept. 28, 2011 at about 11 p.m. Hart had placed it in the back of his pickup truck and was en route to an extra-duty job. At Northampton and South streets, a driver at the intersection told Hart the tailgate on his truck was down, and that's when Hart saw the rifle was missing, Neiswanger said.
Springfield Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet fired officer Kevin Merchant earlier this month after his service weapon was either lost or stolen from a Hartford apartment on Oct. 15.
The incident was investigated by Hartford police with the cooperation of Springfield police.
Springfield Sgt. John M. Delaney said that Merchant lied to Hartford police investigators and that he did not report the missing gun to the Springfield Police Department.
This story was updated at 3:38 p.m. to include more details and background
Reporter Mike Plaisance contributed to this story.