Good Guy with a Gun #176: Chicopee, MA

The mayor had a lot to say. None of it was useful, compared to the gun in the employee's hand. | Original incident: April 18, 2024

These posts are based on our Good Guy with a Gun calendar. Today’s post is somewhat updated from the calendar version.

There’s a lot of coverage of this story, but not much detail.

The incident

Police responded to a call at 6:30 PM on a Thursday night about an armed robbery with shots fired at Zain’s Smoke Shop & Convenience on Montgomery Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts.

Fortunately, the shots weren’t fired at an employee. When they arrived, they found two men there: Robert Papalardo, 53, who was suffering from a gunshot wound, and an unnamed man. The report doesn’t tell us, but we can surmise that the other man was the shooter, and that he had been working at the store.

Apparently Papalardo had been attempting to rob the store when he was shot. He was taken to the hospital, where he died.

Reporting about Massachusetts

Western Mass News — which encompasses call signs WGGB and WSHM, as well as affiliates CBS 3, ABC 40, and Fox 6 (!) — did some good additional digging.

The mayor

First, they got Chicopee Mayor John Vieau in for an interview. His commentary was, unsurprisingly, useless. Maybe worse, in fact. Here’s the three-minute-long segment.

He couldn’t speak about the ongoing investigation, which is fine: I expect that. But the platitudes would be funny if they weren’t so bad.

“Anytime there’s a violent crime, no matter what time of day it is, it’s concerning, you know. We as a city are concerned.” No kidding, Mr. Mayor — but are you considering the robbery a violent crime, or the shooting of the robber?

He talked about community policing. He talked about an AI-based system that he describes as a “modern version of a neighborhood crime watch,” according to Western Mass News’s Raegan Loughrey. “It focuses on the camera system that allows for the private sector cameras to have the opportunity to get involved as well to have real time footage on your phone for a police officer who may be called to a scene. I think it’s something very special.”

Neither George Orwell nor Aldous Huxley could be reached for comment.

None of the things he talked about would have helped the employee who had to shoot a man dead in order to control the crime.

Stand your Ground laws vs. the Castle Doctrine

Ms. Loughrey also did a segment with local defense attorney Dan Hagan to talk about the potential for charges against the shooter.

Hagan noted that Massachusetts doesn’t have a Stand your Ground law — if bad guys might harm or kill you, and it might be reasonable to run away (in the eyes of a jury that’s sitting in a climate-controlled courtroom many months after the fact with zero adrenaline running through their system while looking dispassionately at the situation and second-guessing you based on the complete results of a detailed forensic investigation), you have to run away.

He also noted the exception: Under the Castle Doctrine, Massachusetts has deigned to allow you to stand your ground in your own home. You needn’t leave your most private space to the rapine of lawless invaders.

Sources

Primary

Hampden DA Anthony Gulluni posted a statement to Facebook. You can also see a few comments on there like this one:

Local news

Western Mass News had their initial report and the two mentioned above (mayor, laws). The text articles here also have the video inside them.

WWLP 22, MassLive, Daily Hampshire Gazette, Mix 93.1, and Daily Voice Springfield all covered the incident as well.

Specialist media

Brandon Curtis summarized the situation for Concealed Nation.

And you can walk on the wild side with Smoke Tales, if you’re into that kind of thing.