A 21-year-old Vermont man is facing federal charges that he purchased a handgun that was found less than 24-hours later at the scene of a shootout in Springfield, Massachusetts, that resulted in the deaths of two men. Prosecutors say that Cameron Yee, of South Burlington, was arrested Tuesday. He appeared in court Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty. Court documents say Yee was paid $2,000 by a man he knew as “Jay" to buy a .40 caliber handgun and that Yee knew Jay was involved in a dispute with another man. Prosecutors did not specifically say if the man who was killed was Jay. Yee's attorney declined comment.

Federal authorities have arrested a Massachusetts police officer they allege used a baton to strike a man in custody and then failed to mention the incident in two reports. Federal prosecutors in Boston said Wednesday that following an FBI investigation, Fall River Officer Nicholas Hoar was indicted on charges of deprivation of rights and making false reports. His federal public defender in an email declined to comment. Authorities say Hoar was on duty on Dec. 21, 2020, when he struck a man who had been arrested in the forehead with a baton, injuring him.

A 76-year-old man accused of performing lewd acts and touching a 21-year-old woman’s leg without her consent on a Boston-bound flight earlier this year has pleaded guilty. Federal prosecutors in Boston said Tuesday that the Florida man faces up to 90 days in prison at sentencing scheduled for March. Prosecutors say the man and the victim were on a flight from New Jersey to Boston on April 8 when the defendant exposed himself, inappropriately touched himself and put his hand on the thigh of the 21-year-old woman seated next to him. She alerted another passenger and a flight attendant.