Massachusetts

6-Year-Old Girl Dead, 9-Year-Old Hospitalized in Fitchburg, Mass.

A 6-year-old girl is dead and a 9-year-old boy remains hospitalized in what police are calling a suspicious death investigation in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early said police responded to a 911 call at 139 Stoneybrook Road around 11:58 a.m. Tuesday. When they arrived, they found an injured young boy and an unresponsive young girl.

Both children were brought to the UMass Memorial Health Alliance in Leominster, where the girl was pronounced dead. The boy was transferred to Worcester Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Early said state police detectives and Fitchburg police are investigating and are deeming it a suspicious death. The chief medical examiner has accepted jurisdiction and will determine the cause and manner of the girl's death.

"We are very early in this investigation," he said. "The case is very active. A lot of moving parts are going on right now."

"This was not a random act," added Fitchburg Police Chief Ernest Martineau. "The public is not in danger."

He would not answer questions about whether anyone is in custody, but the Sentinel & Enterprise is reporting that police have arrested a woman in connection with the investigation.

Martineau said the investigation is not connected in any way to a series of recent school threats in the city.

"This is a totally separate incident," he said.

Neighbors on Stoneybrook Road said they first started hearing sirens around noon Tuesday.

"Around noon we first started hearing the cops and sirens coming around, the helicopters, and we're all just listening to the scanners and trying to figure out what's going on," neighbor Mike Naughton said. "There are a lot of theories going around."

Massachusetts State Police said assets including Air Wing, K9, Crime Scene Services, patrols and detectives assigned to the Worcester District Attorney responded to assist Fitchburg police at the crime scene.

Aerial footage showed numerous police and fire vehicles blanketing the neighborhood. Police were seen checking IDs before letting drivers pass down Stoneybrook Road on Tuesday afternoon.

A DCF spokesman said in a statement Tuesday night, “The Department of Children and Families received a report of this tragic situation and is assisting law enforcement in this active investigation.”

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