On Tuesday, authorities in Springfield captured the sought-after suspect Zaddiel Aponte-Perez, a 20-year-old man linked to two different shooting incidents. The arrest--a coordinated effort involving the SPD Firearms Investigation Unit, Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, Massachusetts State Police, and A.T.F.--took place inside an apartment on Fernbank Road, according to a Springfield Police Department press release.
Authorities first became aware of Aponte-Perez's alleged activities back on January 16th when a ShotSpotter alerted them to gunfire on Liberty Street—a business window was found damaged but no injuries were reported, on July 8th, detectives received an arrest warrant for his alleged role in this incident however the subsequent arrest did not happen until several days later. A similar pattern emerged from an incident on June 26 on East Columbus Avenue where police found evidence of gunfire including shell casings and property damage grass which was the fence and a vacuum at a local business were hit, and again, it was not until July 8th that an arrest warrant was secured for Aponte-Perez.
The lead to Aponte-Perez's arrest was strengthened when FIU detectives obtained a warrant to search a vehicle connected to the young man. This search yielded a significant haul: $1430 in cash, a high-capacity magazine, 45 rounds of ammunition, 56 bags of heroin, and close to a pound of marijuana. Following these finds, law enforcement moved swiftly to enhance the charges against Aponte-Perez.
The charges for Aponte-Perez, who hails from Springfield, mirror the serious nature of the alleged crimes: carrying a firearm without a license and carrying a loaded firearm without a license figure prominently, alongside two counts of attempted assault and battery with a firearm and the offense of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building all these being a reflection of the gravity of his actions, as per the statement released by the Springfield Police Department.
