WARWICK, R.I. (AP) — Two unrelated fatal shootings by police just hours apart in Massachusetts and Rhode Island are under investigation.
The first occurred around 6 p.m. Monday in Fall River, Massachusetts, while the other occurred in Warwick, Rhode Island, around 11 p.m. Monday.
A prosecutor says a 30-year-old man was shot in Fall River during an altercation with two officers who were investigating a report of an assault.
In Rhode Island, Warwick police say officers shot and killed a man who pointed a rifle at them and ignored commands to drop the weapon.
Officers went to a condominium complex in Warwick at about 10:30 p.m. Monday to perform a well-being check after getting a call from someone who said there was a suicidal male inside one unit and they were concerned for a female occupant’s safety, Warwick police said in a statement Tuesday.
The caller was at a different location.
Police also got information that the man was armed.
The woman was safely removed from the residence and police attempted to contact the man.
Twice the man came out of the unit, pointed a rifle at officers, then went back inside, police said.
On the third occasion, “he advanced towards the officers while aiming the rifle in their direction and ignored repeated police commands to drop his weapon,” police said.
One officer fired, striking the man. He was brought to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence where he was pronounced dead at about 11:30 p.m.
No names were made public.
The shooting is under investigation by the state attorney general’s office, state police and local police.
