DA Calls Killing of Mass. Grandmother, Shooting of 10- and 12-Year-Old Granddaughters ‘Heinous’

The Massachusetts shooting that left a grandmother dead and two of her grandchildren wounded before the gunman took his own life was slammed by a prosecutor as a “heinous and cowardly” attack.

Victor Nieves, a tenant in the multi-family Springfield home where the shooting occurred, burst through the door of neighbor Kim Fairbank's home and opened fire around 2:40 p.m. Monday, according to authorities.

When police arrived, they found Fairbanks, 52, and her dog dead, officials said. Nieves, 34, lay dead nearby from a self-inflicted gunshot, police said. 

Officers also found Fairbanks’ three grandchildren in a bedroom: two girls, ages 10 and 12, who had also been shot, and a 5-year-old boy, who was physically unharmed.

The girls remained hospitalized Tuesday, with the younger of the two in critical condition.

“I remain deeply saddened by this tragic attack and I am profoundly sorry for these children and their family members,” said Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni in a statement issued Tuesday. “This is unequivocally one on [sic] the most heinous and cowardly acts to which I’ve had to bear witness as District Attorney.”

Springfield Police Superintendent Cheryl C. Clapprood was similarly shocked.

“This is an absolute tragedy and I am praying for this family,” said Clapprood in the same statement. “In my forty plus years at the Springfield Police Department this is one of the most heart-wrenching incidents I can remember.”

The law-enforcement statement did not reveal a possible motive for the attack. But Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno issued a statement calling it “unprovoked and despicable.”

Nieves lived above Fairbanks with a woman who ran screaming from the house amid the bloodshed, witnesses told local outlet MassLive. She was unharmed.

He had a minor criminal record, facing a motor vehicle charge in 2017 and a prior gun rap in 2011, police told the outlet.