Chilling video shows accused gunman taunting Springfield police
A chilling video shows a gun-wielding suspect taunting Springfield police as he runs down the middle of the street with bystanders getting out of his way.
Police report they have arrested the gunman, identified as Jose Montanez, 43, after “five rounds” were fired on a city street Sunday evening.
Police rushed to the scene on High Street at 7:25 p.m. after a ShotSpotter activation “indicating five rounds of gunfire,” police said.
The department’s Real-Time Analysis Center’s (R-TAC) city camera begins with the suspect allegedly firing his gun prior to the first officers’ arrival.
When police arrived Montanez ran up the street while continuing to point his firearm in the direction of officers and bystanders, police said. He even dropped the gun once and police said they spotted another clip on his belt. The gun was reported stolen out of Ludlow.
After he ran out of view of the city camera, the suspect tossed his gun in the back of the nearby high school and was arrested soon after without incident, police said. The weapon and extra magazine were also recovered.
“The outcome of this call is a huge credit to all of the officers on scene who showed incredible and courageous restraint in this situation, and, due to their keen observation during a fast-moving incident, were able to avoid an officer-involved shooting. Reloading or moving the slide forward only takes a moment and likely would have had a much different end result,” Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood said.
She added: “The brazen actions of this suspect put in jeopardy the lives of our officers, several bystanders and himself and is an example of some of the most unpredictable, volatile and dangerous calls our officers respond to. This situation could have changed at any moment, and we are fortunate it ended as it did.”
Mayor Domenic Sarno said there’s no place for this type of reckless gunplay.
“Is this what it is coming to? Our courts are holding no one accountable, especially repeat violent criminal offenders who are allowed to run roughshod on our streets and neighborhoods, while our brave and dedicated men and women in blue risk their lives with arrest, after arrest, after arrest to keep all our residents and business community safe,” said Sarno.
He called on the courts to get tough on Montanez and not “just ‘pat him on the head’ and release him right back to our streets and in our neighborhoods!”
Montanez was due in court today on charges of carrying a loaded firearm without a license, discharging it within 500 feet of a building, A&B with a dangerous weapon and disturbing the peace and other related criminal counts.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3cXXjLy
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