UPDATE: Suspect in North Adams Walmart Stabbing Turns Himself In

Interim Police Chief Mark Bailey reported that Roland Hernandez, 41, of Pittsfield, surrendered to the North Adams Police Department on Feb. 3, 2025, around 9 p.m. He was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and was brought to Northern Berkshire District Court the following morning at approximately 10 a.m.

The incident occurred on Monday, Feb. 3, around 4 p.m. when officers responded to a fight at the department store and found a victim with stab wounds. The victim was transported by ambulance to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield.

Following the incident, police issued a BOLO (be on the lookout) for a black 2019 Hyundai Tucson registered in Massachusetts, warning officers that the suspect may have been armed with a knife. A second individual who left the scene on foot was also sought, though their involvement remains unclear.

A witness reported seeing the victim covered in blood from an apparent wound to the chest or abdomen while being treated by Northern Berkshire EMS.

Images posted to Facebook but since deleted show a white man with a mohawk hairdo with no shirt on and wearing only green pants and shoes outside the store. He's holding his hand below his neck and has blood dripping down his chest and covering his pants. He's carrying what appears to be a shirt and a coat or jacket. He's standing and walking around. 

Clarksburg Students Write in Support of Rural School Aid

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
07:25AM / Sunday, March 15, 2026

Mason Langenback calculated that Clarksburg would get almost $1 million if the $60 million was allocated equally.

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Eighth-graders at Clarksburg School took a lesson in civic advocacy this week, researching school funding and writing letters to Beacon Hill that call for fully funding rural school aid. 

 

The students focused on the hardships for small rural schools and their importance to the community — that they struggle with limited funding and teacher shortages, but offer safe and supportive spaces for learning and are a hub for community connections.

 

"They all address the main issue, the funding for rural schools, and how there's a gap, and there's the $4 million gap this year, and then it's about the $40 million next year, and that rural schools need that equitable funding," said social studies teacher Mark Karhan.

 

A rural schools report in 2022 found smaller school districts cost from nearly 17 percent to 23 percent more to operate, and recommended "at least" $60 million be appropriated annually for rural school aid. 

 

Gov. Maura Healey has filed for more Chapter 70 school aid, but that often is little help to small rural schools with declining or static enrollment. For fiscal 2027, she's budgeted $20 million for rural schools, up from around $13 million this year but still far below the hoped for $60 million. 

 

Karhan said the class was broken into four groups and the students were provided a submission letter from Rural Schools Advocacy. The students used the first paragraph, which laid out the funding facts, and then did research and wrote their own letters. 

 

They will submit those with a school picture to the governor.