HOLYOKE — An innocent bystander was shot and killed during an incident involving two other parties at the Holyoke Mall Saturday night, according to Holyoke Police.

Police were called to the mall at 6:59 p.m. for a report of shots fired and found a male victim at the scene and a suspect who they immediately took into custody, Police Chief David Pratt said at a press conference at the Holyoke Police Station about three hours after the shooting.

Pratt said the shooting involved two parties who are known to each other and that there is no ongoing threat to the public. The mall was closed in the wake of the incident.

“The mall will be open tomorrow,” Pratt said. “There will be a strong presence of the Holyoke Police Department.”

Pratt was joined at the police station by Mayor Joshua Garcia, state Rep. Patricia Duffy and state Sen. John Velis. Police and Garcia expressed their condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of the victim. They provided no other details and deferred all questions to the Hampden County district attorney’s office.

Garcia said he wanted to address the public as soon as possible after the shooting and stressed that the incident was isolated.

“We want to be sure that the public knows we’re here,” Garcia said. “We’re on it. We’re taking care of business.”

Pratt said the incident remains an ongoing homicide investigation by the Holyoke Police Department and State Police detectives assigned to the DA’s office.

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