Police: Shooting was drug-related

Vermont State Police have released new information about the Wednesday shooting on Summer Street in Springfield. Two men with strong ties to New Jersey have been arrested in connection to the case.
http://eagletimes.villagesoup.com/p/police-shooting-was-drug-related/1197411

Police: Shooting was drug-related By Chris Garofolo | Jun 13, 2014 Share on facebook Share on print Share on twitter Share on email More Sharing Services 0 Photo by: Chris Garofolo Vermont State Police have released new information about the Wednesday shooting on Summer Street in Springfield. Two men with strong ties to New Jersey have been arrested in connection to the case. Leon Jiggetts appeared in a White River Junction courtroom Thursday afternoon. (Courtesy of: Vermont State Police) View More... SPRINGFIELD — Police say Wednesday’s shooting that caused three injuries in a Springfield apartment was part of a dispute reportedly over stolen drugs. New details emerged Thursday in the indictments against Leon Jiggetts, 26, of Newark, New Jersey, and 33-year-old Jabbar Chandler of Charlestown, New Hampshire, alleging they entered a Summer Street residence sometime around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday with a 16-year-old male from Chester to confront a known drug dealer about heroin that was taken from the teenager. Jiggetts, wearing a white T-shirt and Hollister sweatpants in a White River Junction courtroom, invoked his right to wait 24 hours before making a plea on Thursday and will reappear before a judge today for his arraignment. He faces a legion of new felony charges including attempted second-degree murder, assault and robbery with injury, as well as five heroin and cocaine counts stemming from an ongoing Vermont State Police Drug Task Force investigation. David Cahill, deputy state’s attorney in Windsor County, said he will ask that Jiggetts be held without bail given the seriousness of his charges. Chandler turned himself in at the Charlestown Police Department late Wednesday night. He was arraigned in New Hampshire’s Fifth Circuit Court: Claremont Division as a fugitive from justice with Vermont warrants on felony counts of unlawful entry and aggravated assault. He waived extradition and is expected to appear in a Vermont courtroom within a few days. Prosecutors suspect Jiggetts and Chandler have ties to gangs based in their home state of New Jersey. The 16-year-old male was questioned by police and additional charges against the juvenile are expected. “It’s still an active investigation, we’re in the early stage. Obviously the Vermont State Police chose to make an arrest because of the evidence they believed they had and the public safety concerns they had,” Cahill said. “There’s no one else in custody.” The stunning crime in downtown Springfield Wednesday afternoon injured three people within a Summer Street residence. Joseph Atkinson, 19, originally from Union City, New Jersey but recently relocated to Springfield, sustained a gunshot wound in his torso and continues to receive medical treatment at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. An update on his status was not made available by the hospital. Atkinson, who had four felony counts (some drug-related) dismissed by the state in March 2013, could face charges in this matter. He is known by his street name “Black” and supplied the other victims with heroin, according to court records. “If you read the affidavit of probable cause, there’s a suggestion that maybe he was just not watching TV,” Cahill said. Also injured were a married couple living in the 47 Summer St. apartment: Timothy Carleton, 30, and 24-year-old Amanda Booker. Both were treated and released from Springfield Hospital for non-life threatening injuries, according to state police. ••• Court documents released Thursday report Jiggetts, Chandler and the 16-year-old came through the unlocked door of apartment No. 4 at 47 Summer Street armed with a baseball bat and a firearm. Jiggetts, a habitual offender with multiple offenses from New Jersey's Essex County, shot Atkinson once and pointed the gun to his head and demanded to know where the drugs were. Carleton told police he noticed his wife was bleeding and jumped at Chandler before he was hit on the head and had his handgun pulled from his possession. Booker said Chandler and Atkinson, the latter of which she is friends with, were fighting the previous day over drugs and admitted to police Atkinson is a dealer. “[Atkinson] has heroin in their apartment he gave [Booker] a bag earlier in the day and she snorted it,” wrote Detective Sgt. John-Paul Schmidt with the state police. The juvenile, who came to the state police barracks with his father following the incident, spoke with investigators. He said Jiggetts and Chandler assisted him in confronting Atkinson about “spreading rumors about him stealing money from drug deals,” according to Schmidt. Troopers say Atkinson was very upset with the juvenile because he thought the teenager stole his heroin. The men were dropped off in front of the residence by Chandler’s girlfriend of a few months, 30-year-old Amy L. Scannell, who police took into custody around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday behind the Springfield Village Pizza. Scannell confirmed she drove the suspects to Summer Street and later transported them after the shots were fired. She played on her phone for approximately 10 minutes when they returned to her 2004 Dodge Neon and, according to court records, she observed Chandler pull a gun out, point it at her head and say something to the effect of “Don’t tell anybody about this.” “Scannell was concerned that Chandler would kill her,” said Vermont state trooper Brian Berry in his affidavit. “On the way to Bellows Falls, Chandler threw the gun out the window and Jiggetts threw a cell phone out the window in the same area. Scannell would later show me where this spot was on Bridge Street in Springfield.” The firearm was not recovered. Jiggetts also has a criminal sheet with multiple heroin and cocaine felonies out of Windham County. A more detailed account of these indictments will appear in an upcoming edition of the Eagle Times. ••• Chandler was taken into the Charlestown police barracks by his mother at approximately 7:28 p.m. He told police he was at the Summer Street residence for “another matter” when he heard a gunshot and ran to the vehicle operated by his girlfriend, Scannell. He reportedly was dropped off in Bellows Falls before his mother picked him up and drove him to the police station. During his interview in Charlestown, Chandler said there was a physical altercation at the Summer Street apartment and he was confronted by an unidentified subject (Carleton) holding a semi-automatic pistol. “Chandler reported that he punched that subject in the face, causing the gun to fall to the floor. Chandler said that he picked the gun up and left the apartment building,” said Stephen A. Lee with the New Hampshire State Police in an affidavit. “While being driven away from the scene, Chandler stated that he threw the gun out the window.” Chandler, whose brother Terrick Craft was convicted in the July 2012 shooting in downtown Springfield, was arrested in late May on an aggravated assault charge