Police Saw Gunman On The Street With Weapon In Hand: Woonsocket

WOONSOCKET, RI — The shooting of a police officer — and the standoff that ended almost five hours later with a suspect in custody — started around 4:35 a.m. Monday on Cumberland Street near Kendrick Avenue when a patrol officer saw a man carrying a gun, Chief Thomas F. Oates III told Patch this afternoon. The man was on foot. He was holding a gun in his hand. The officer called for back-up and swung his cruiser around to follow the man. But he had disappeared after cutting through several side streets off Kendrick. A foot chase started. By that point, several officers had responded to the area. The suspect wheeled around and fired at the police officers. Officers fired back. Then he cut down a side street and disappeared in the woods off Elm Street.

Given the fact, the suspect had fired on police, officers opted to set up a perimeter and wait for the K-9 unit to arrive to track the suspect in the woods. However, in the meantime, the man made it through the perimeter and shot at officers. One was wounded in the thigh. The officer was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, treated and released home.

He has still has a bullet in his leg, Chief Oates said. Doctors decided not to remove it immediately.

Police continued the search for the suspect. They went through buildings and parking lots looking. Then a citizen called to report the man with a gun was hunkered down by a building behind a parking lot at 685 Social Street.

The building is near the housing authority. Police could see the suspect. Officers from North Smithfield, Blackstone, Mass., and state police troopers converged on the scene. Woonsocket also called out the Special Weapons And Tactics Team. They started negotiating with the suspect. After an hour to 90 minutes, the suspect threw the gun out. But he refused to surrender, and he "intimated" he had another weapon, Chief Oates said. However, police doubted there was another gun based on what they could observe about his hand movements.

The plan was to go in and tackle him, the chief said. Around 9:10 a.m., he gave the go-ahead order. They used a "concussion" device that made a loud bang to distract him.

"He fought violently," Chief Oates said. Police had to taser him to make the collar. He was taken to Landmark Medical Center to be evaluated.

That was done out of "an abundance of caution," the chief said. The suspect is now at Woonsocket Police headquarters, where police are trying to identify him.

"He's not local," Chief Oates said. "We don't know who he is."

Meanwhile, the state police and the state Attorney General's office are also working on the case.

The Attorney General is still in Woonsocket, Chief Oates said as of Monday afternoon, because it was an officer-involved shooting. Although this suspect was not wounded, police did fire at him.

Chief Oates said the suspect will be held at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston overnight and arraigned tomorrow. Police will put together some preliminary charges, he said. More charges may follow.

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