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Tyre Shakespeare was arrested on Sunday, July 2, in Springfield and charged with the killing, Springfield police said.
The attack happened near Ashmun and Adams streets on Thursday afternoon. Authorities said Shakespeare "sprayed bullets" at a group of people celebrating during a birthday party.
Elian Arroya, age 23, was shot and paramedics rushed him to Baystate Medical Center, where he later died.
A woman who'd also been shot in the attack showed up at the hospital for treatment a short time later, Springfield police said. A bullet grazed her head.
It's unclear what sparked the alleged shooting.
Shakespeare is charged with:
- Murder
- Assault and battery with a firearm
- Carrying a loaded firearm without a license (2 counts)
- Discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building
- Firearm-armed kidnapping (3 counts)
- Home invasion (3 counts)
- Assault with a dangerous weapon
- Larceny under $1,200
At the time of his arrest, Shakespeare was out on bail on armed home invasion charges for an incident police say happened on Olney Avenue in December 2020. He is also alleged to have fired a gun at one of the victims.
A judge released Shakespeare on a $5,000 bond in August 2022, but he was required to wear a GPS-monitoring bracelet. He cut it off in May 2023, a month before the alleged double shooting, police said.
He'd previously cut off a court-ordered GPS monitoring device in March 2021 in the same home invasion case, officials said.
Springfield Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood called the murder "completely avoidable" if the courts had not given Shakespeare — an accused violent criminal — bail.
This is beyond belief and makes no sense whatsoever that a suspect with armed home invasion charges including shooting at a victim is given a GPS bracelet, not once, but twice. This murder was completely avoidable and now we have a grieving family and a young man gone too soon. Shakespeare’s actions were so brazen that he’s alleged to have sprayed several bullets at a group of people celebrating a birthday. This situation could have been much, much worse. I’d like to thank Captain Trent Duda and his Homicide Unit for their tireless and dedicated service in solving homicide cases and getting dangerous individuals off the street. Unfortunately, it seems like you need to kill someone before you get held.
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