Two people were shot dead and a teenager was wounded during a Rhode Island dispute over the gunman peeping into a neighbor’s house.
The shooter, James Harrison, 52, was also shot later and killed by officers after a pursuit and standoff near the Johnston-Cranston city line.
The victims have not been publicly identified, but sources said one of the deceased is Harrison’s mother, with whom he lived at 4 Ligian Court.
Police stated, “The second victim was an adult who lived next door to Harrison and his mother at 2 Ligian court. A 15-year old girl, who also lived at the address, suffered from non-life threatening injuries and is recovering in the hospital at this time.”
While details on what led to the killings was not clear, multiple sources said 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.
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.
“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 drove wildly and even hit a Cranston police cruiser before he jumped the center median and crashed into a rock.
Harrison was then quickly surrounded by officers, who told him to step outside of the vehicle.
After several minutes, Harrison exited his vehicle, pointed a firearm at the officers, and then was shot and killed by police.
Some of the officers were taken to local area hospital for minor injuries after the incident was over.
