2 dead after Rhode Island shooting sparked by gunman’s peeping Tom incident
May 24, 2023
James Harrison was shot and killed by police officers when he pointed a weapon at them.
Two people were killed and a teenager was wounded in a Rhode Island shooting that stemmed from a dispute over the alleged gunman peeping into a neighbor’s house.
The alleged gunman, 52-year-old James Harrison, 52, was also later shot and killed by police after a pursuit and standoff standoff near the Johnston-Cranston city line, WPRI reported.
None of the victims have been identified but sources told the outlet one of the deceased is Harrison’s mother, with whom he lived at 4 Ligian Court.
Police said the second victim was as an adult who lived next door to Harrison and his mother at 2 Ligian court.
A 15-year-old girl who lived at the address also suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is recovering in the hospital, cops said. Their relationship was not immediately clear.
While details on what led to the killings was not clear, multiple sources told WPRI that earlier this week Harrison was caught looking into a neighbor’s window
Police were called to Harrison’s home afterwards around midnight Tuesday, but he refused to answer the door, police and sources told the outlet.
A neighbor reported hearing a loud bang around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning before seeing Harrison leave his home before responders flooded the neighborhood.
Johnston Police Chief Mark Vieira said his department responded to two 911 calls for shots fired around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, one of which came from 2 Ligian Court.
Police quickly put out a notice for officers to be on the lookout for Harrison and an off-duty officer spotted his vehicle parked at a cemetery.
Police said that Harrison smashed into a Cranston Police vehicle during the pursuit.
When officers arrived, Harrison “drove at these police officers head on towards their vehicles, nearly striking them,” Police Chief Michael Winquist, of neighboring Cranston, said. “A pursuit took place after that incident.”
Police followed Harrison on the Plainfield Pike, where he allegedly drove wildly and even hit a Cranston police cruiser before he jumped the center median and crashed into a rock, cops said.
He was quickly surrounded by police who told him to get out of the vehicle.
After several minutes, he got out and pointed a firearm at the officers who then shot and killed him.
It didn’t appear that any officers were injured, although some were taken to area hospitals for evaluation.
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