2 charged after 2 teens are shot inside Hadley Walmart, authorities say

Two people were charged Monday, one with armed assault with intent to murder, after two teenagers were shot and seriously injured inside a Walmart store in Hadley the night before, authorities said.

Wilmer Alvarez, 26, of Chicopee, and Keyla Fernandez, 32, of Holyoke, appeared in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown, where Judge Danielle Williams ordered Alvarez be held pending a dangerousness hearing and Fernandez be held on $5,000 bail, according to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.

Alvarez pleaded not guilty to two counts of armed assault with intent to murder, possession of a Class A substance (heroin) with intent to distribute, possession of a Class B substance (cocaine) with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm without a license, and possession of ammunition without a license, officials said.

Fernandez pleaded not guilty to charges of accessory after the fact, misleading a police officer, possession of a Class A substance (heroin) with intent to distribute, possession of a Class B substance (cocaine) with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm without a license, and possession of ammunition without a license, the district attorney’s office said in a statement.

Authorities allege Alvarez shot two people inside a bathroom at the Walmart on Russell Street on Sunday night.

Hadley police received several emergency calls just after 10 p.m. reporting possible shots fired inside the store, police said in a Facebook post.

“A description of a suspect vehicle was ascertained by a witness and relayed to responding officers,” police said. “Hadley Officers who were a short distance away very quickly located the suspected vehicle and the driver and passenger were detained.”

Police found a loaded firearm and “drugs packaged for distribution on the side of the road near where the vehicle was stopped,” the district attorney’s office said.

As the officers were taking Alvarez and Fernandez into custody, another vehicle “drove into the scene and stopped,” and police learned the two teenage victims were in the vehicle, the police department said.

The district attorney’s office said the victims, ages 18 and 19, “were seriously injured; one shot in the face and leg and the other shot in the arm and
chest.”

Both remained at Baystate Medical Center for treatment on Monday.

Fernandez was charged as a “joint venturer with Alvarez” on the firearm and drug charges, prosecutors said. She is due back in court for a pre-trail conference on Sept. 20.

Alvarez is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 31 for a dangerousness hearing.

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