Document text
Officials: R.I. man killed in police chase did not steal officer's car Thursday Nov 9, 2017 at 1:33 PM Providence law enforcement pieces together incidents that led to man's death Gatehouse Media Rhode Island PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A man shot dead by police officers after a pursuit in downtown Providence is not the same person who stole a state police cruiser earlier in the day, Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré said. The man was killed and a woman who was riding in the same white pickup truck is hospitalized; her condition is not known, Paré said. The man’s body has been removed from the scene of the shooting by the state medical examiner. “The individual that was shot and killed by police officers is not the person that stole the trooper car. The investigation continues,” Paré said. The suspect in the cruiser theft, still at large, is Donald Morgan, 35, of 60 Academy Ave. in Providence, R.I., State Police Col. Ann Assumpico said. He was arrested in possession of a stolen motor vehicle Wednesday night, she said. “We are still looking for Morgan at this time,” she said. Asked whether the fatal shooting of the man in the pickup truck was a tragic error, Paré said, “No, it is not.” He said the shooting of two people in the pickup is not directly related to the theft of a trooper’s vehicle. “There was a theft of a trooper car, and then there was this chase by the police officers and then deadly force was used,” Paré said. “We’re investigating … why this individual did not stop and why police officers had to use deadly force,” Paré said. No police officers were injured. Paré said several of the police officers involved in the shooting were wearing body cameras. State and Providence police officers were involved in the shooting. The incident closed Route 95 in both directions for a time after the police chased a white pickup truck onto a highway ramp near Providence Place mall. The incident started with the theft of a Rhode Island State Police cruiser earlier Thursday. Assumpico said a trooper was transporting a suspect to court in a cruiser and stopped at the scene of a crash on Route 146. The suspect, who was cuffed, was able to get into the driver’s seat and drive away. The cruiser was later located at 45 Vineyard St., in Providence. Providence public school officials locked down four West End schools on Thursday morning as word of a dangerous incident emerged. The schools, Lima, Fortes and Leviton elementary schools, and Gilbert Stuart Middle School, were closed to outside access, but classes continued as scheduled, school district spokeswoman Laura Hart said. The lockdown ended sometime after 11 a.m., Hart said. Reporting by The Providence (R.I.) Journal