Williamstown Shooting Still Under Investigation

iBerkshires.com StaffPrint Story | Email Story
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- State Police detectives continue to investigate a Sunday morning shooting on Cole Avenue, and the Williamstown Police plans a community meeting to discuss procedures when the investigation ends.
 
On Tuesday morning, WPD Chief Michael Ziemba sent a news release to update the community that while police believe there is no threat to the general public, the probe continues into a shooting at 330 Cole Ave. that sent one individual to the hospital.
 
Ziemba's news release did not indicate that any arrests have been made in the case.
 
He did provide a little more detail about the aftermath of the shooting.
 
A 10:15 a.m. call to the Williamstown Police dispatcher reported that someone had been shot at the housing complex and that, "he was en route to the hospital via personal vehicle," the release reads.
 
Later, the gunshot victim was brought from a separate location to Berkshire Medical Center by ambulance, Ziemba wrote.
 
Ziemba said he brought in the State Police Detective unit to assist the local police. Investigators determined there was no threat to the general public from the shooter and relayed that message via the town's Code Red reverse 911 system and social media.
 
"We recognize that many of you may feel unsettled," Ziemba wrote. "We also recognize that there are many remaining questions and a desire for more information in order to feel safe."
 
Ziemba said that the WPD and Berkshire District Attorney's Office will held a community meeting in partnership with the housing managers of 330 Cole Ave. after the case is concluded.
 
"This will be an opportunity to discuss how emergency situations are handled by law enforcement, how law enforcement communicates potential threats to the public and how we can all be more aware of how to report suspected crimes," Ziemba wrote.
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Local Authorities Responding to State's Action on Kratom

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Health on Monday began a discussion about regulating the sale of kratom products in town.
 
The board's monthly meeting came four days after the governor's office in Boston announced that the commonwealth temporarily will designate kratom, also known by its chemical name and marketed with the term "7-OH" as a Schedule I drug, greatly restricting its sale in Massachusetts as of Aug. 28.
 
The board already was meeting virtually with the director of South County's Tri-Town Health Department on a different matter. Jim Wilusz stayed on the conference call to discuss the implications of Gov. Maura Healey's Thursday announcement on 7-OH, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has called potentially "The Next Wave of the Opioid Epidemic."
 
Wilusz said he already was working on draft regulations for Tri-Town based, in part, on an ordinance enacted by Northampton before Gov. Maura Healey's announcement. But in the wake of the announcement and the classification of kratom as a Schedule I drug, he might have to change the language of the proposed ordinance.
 
Healey's emergency order of Aug. 14 is intended to "give local boards of health and other municipal officials additional authority to take enforcement action against retailers selling kratom products," according to a news release announcing the move.
 
"I was actually hoping they were going to pass a statewide ban on this thing," Wilusz said. "This goes into effect Aug. 28, so effective the 28th, they can't have kratom in the entire state on their shelves with a one-year [period] to give not only boards of health but, possibly, the Legislature, time to enact regulation.
 
"I don't know if the intent is to work on a statewide Department of Public Health regulation, which would be ideal, where you would have uniformity across the entire state. It does authorize the boards of health to enact local regulations."
 
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