SPRINGFIELD — Officials today have identified Victor Nieves as the shooter in a murder-suicide that left a grandmother dead and two small children with serious gunshot wounds on Monday.
Nieves, 34, was the upstairs neighbor at 174 Berkshire Ave., where a horrific scene unfolded Monday afternoon. A spokesman for Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni confirmed Nieves shot the children and their grandmother in cold blood before turning the gun on himself.
One of the children — a 10-year-old girl — remains in critical condition after being transferred to Boston Children’s Hospital on Monday night after undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to the chest, according to Ryan Walsh, spokesman for the Springfield Police Department.
Another victim — a 12-year-old girl — is hospitalized at Baystate Medical Center but is in stable condition after being shot in the abdomen. A third sibling, a 5-year-old boy, escaped injury, the district attorney’s spokesman, James Leydon, confirmed.
Leydon identified the children’s grandmother as Kim Fairbanks, 52. She was minding the three children while the children’s parents were at work, when Nieves came charging downstairs and banged on their door, officials said.
Nieves also fatally shot the family’s dog. It is still unclear exactly what prompted Nieves’ rampage.
Police said Nieves had a minimal criminal record, with a motor vehicle charge in 2017 and a prior illegal gun charge dating back to 2011. Nieves lived upstairs with a woman who ran screaming from the house after the shootings occurred, witnesses said. She was unharmed.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.
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