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Suspect in the stabbing of former Fall River Mayor arraigned on assault charges

The Massachusetts District Court in Fall River
Paul C. Kelly Campos
The Massachusetts District Court in Fall River

The man police say stabbed former Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan was in court Tuesday afternoon

The man accused of stabbing former Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan was in court on Tuesday afternoon.

Coree Gonzales, age 31, was arraigned at the Fall River District Court House, charged with four counts of assault on a police officer. He pleaded not guilty.

Police said Gonzales stabbed Flanagan on the street on Monday around 5 p.m. As of Wednesday, he had not been charged with any crime related to the attack on Flanagan. But during his arrest, Gonzales allegedly assaulted four police officers, according to a statement published on the FRPD’s Facebook.

Judge Heath Antontio ordered Gonzales to be held without bail and to undergo a mental evaluation.

Sgt. Ross Aubin of the Fall River Police Department said detectives worked through the night on Monday to locate Gonzalez.

“They established a suspect very early on and they spent the entirety of the night and early morning trying to locate the suspect,” Aubin said.

Prosecutors asked that information into the stabbing attack be impounded for 30 days while the investigation continues, a motion that Antonio granted.

Flanagan served as mayor in 2010 until he was later recalled from office. Aubin said on Tuesday that the former mayor was in stable but critical condition.

Paul C. Kelly Campos is a Report for America Corps member who covers democracy and community engagement for The Public’s Radio. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Kelly is a writer, poet and translator of Irish and Nicaraguan descent. His bilingual work has appeared in NPR’s Next Generation Radio, The Washington Post, KQED Forum, KALW, Prism, The Golden Gate Xpress, Seen and Heard, The San Franciscan, and Borderless magazine. He graduated from SF State with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in English literature in 2021. In his spare time he can be found consuming pupusas, reading poetry, or playing with his cat ‘Dr. Otto Octavious Phd.’ all while “The Damned” plays loudly in the background.
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