In the early morning hours of October 12, 2022, two 32-year-old men were fatally shot on the 200 block of Main Street in the Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield, Massachusetts. Justice Kirkland, a Black/African American man, and Andre Yarns Jr. were both found after calls came in shortly after 4 a.m.; one was dead at the scene and the other died later at a hospital. Springfield Police quickly treated the incident as a double homicide.

Springfield Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood said the shooting appeared to be targeted and that both victims were known to law enforcement, suggesting the public was not a random target. The Homicide Unit and the Hampden District Attorney’s Office appealed for information. A Vermont man has been charged for supplying the firearm recovered at the scene, but officials have not publicly identified or charged anyone as responsible for the killings themselves. The case remains an active investigation.

If anyone has information about what happened that night or knew Justice Kirkland, please come forward to investigators.