RI Fatal Police Incidents - See the Cases

Jamie Coyle

Age: 35 Male

Race: European

Incident Date: May 2nd 2013

Location: Pawtucket

Agency Responsible: Pawtucket Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: Coyle was shot by two police officers who say they feared for their lives when Coyle got out of his car and pulled a gun on them.

Official Dispositon: Unknown

Symptoms of Mental Illness: Unkown

Craig J. Raposa

Age: 25 Male

Race: European

Incident Date: February 2nd, 2012

Location: Portsmouth

Agency Responsible: Portsmouth Police Department

Caue of Death: Asphyxiated 

Description: Police were called to Raposa's mother's residence where he became resistant and uncooperative. He'd had a history of mental illness. Although not arrested or accused of any crime, Raposa was restrained, cuffed and placed face-down on the parking lot asphalt for an extended period. He died of cardiac asphyxia.

Official Dispositon: Justified

Symptoms of Mental Illness: Yes

John D. Martins

Age: 47, Male

Race: Uknown

Incident Date: April 18, 2006

Location: Pawtucket

Agency Responsible: Pawtucket Police Department

Cause of death: Gunshot

Description: Ex-con Martins had just robbed a Cumberland Farms store, and was having trouble starting his getaway car, when a police cruiser moved in nose-to-nose to his vehicle and trapped it. Martins rammed the cruiser at least twice; the officer in it shot him once through the torso. Martins managed to move his car a short distance before dying.

Official Dispositon: Justified

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Eddy Tiburcio

Age: 41, Male

Race: Unknown

Incident Date: July 28, 2008

Location: Providence

Agency Responsible: Providence Police Department

Cause of death: Gunshot

Description: Police responding to domestic disturbance calls from Tiburcio's residence found his wife wounded and his three young boys distressed as they answered the door. Officers proceeded to the bedroom to find Tiburcio armed with a bayonet and threatening his wife with further injury. He raised the bayonet to threaten the officer, who killed hm with a single shot.

Official Dispositon: Justified

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Timothy Picard

Age: 41, Male

Race: Unknown

Incident Date: August 20, 2006

Location: Woonsocket

Agency Responsible: Woonsocket Police Department

Cause of Death: Taser

Description: Picard had struggled with his 19-year-old son, struggled with police trying to apprehend him, and struggled at police headquarters when behind booked. He was given two shocks with a stun gun. Shortly afterward he collapsed and didn't recover. He died within an hour.

Official Dispositon: Cleared of Wrongdoing

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Mark Kilcline

Age: 19, Male

Race: European

Incident Date: February 8, 2009

Location: North Kingstown

Agency Responsible: North Kingstown Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description:The mother of one of Kilcline's friends called police to have them check on his welfare over worries about his emotional health. In the resulting confrontation, Kilcline charged three officers with an 8-inch steak knife; they shot him a total of nine times and left him critically injured, one-eyed, and permanently paralyzed. He died of his injuries in April 2013. His family filed a lawsuit for excessive force, gross negligence and brutality, collecting $7M from the city.

Official Dispositon: Justified

Symptoms of Mental Ilness: Yes

Jason Swift

Age: 30, Male

Race: Unknown

Incident Date: February 12, 2008

Location: Pawtucket

Agency Responsible: Pawtucket Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: Swift's mother called 911 for assistance in bringing her agitated, delusional and physical imposing (6'4" and over 300 lbs) son to the hospital. Two officers reached the scene and Swift emerged with a sheathed sword. Ordered to drop the sword, Swift did so, and demonstrated he had no other weapons. The altercation moved inside and another officer arrived and joined in. The end result was Swift, naked, unarmed, and dead from two bullet wounds physically impossible according to the police account. His family settled a suit with the city for $1.3M.

Official Dispositon: Unreported

Symptoms of Mental Illness: Yes

Jason Audette

Age: 34, Male

Race: Unknown

Incident Date: July 27, 2007

Location: Pawtucket

Agency Responsible: Pawtucket Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: Audette, newly released from a correctional institution and with a significant criminal record, was discovered in a driveway by police responding to a burglary in progress. Audette displayed a handgun and was shot to death by officers. This incident was one day after the same department's killing of suspect Bridget DeCrafft.

Official Dispositon: Unreported

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Bridget DeGraftt

Age: 49, female

Race: Unknown

Incident Date: July 26, 2007

Location: Warwick

Agency Responsible: Pawtucket Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: DeGrafft carjacked an SUV from two teenagers at knifepoint at 1 a.m. and led state and local police on a chase through Attleboro, Cranston, and Warwick. Officers fired on her repeatedly. At the end three police cruisers boxed her in, she allegedly rocked the SUV back and forth to deliberately injure one of the officers, and she was shot to death. This incident was one day before the same department's killing of another suspect.

Official Dispositon: Justified

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Selvin M. Garrido Morales

Age: 27, Male

Race: Unknown

Incident Date: April 8, 2007

Location: Central Falls

Agency Responsible: Central Falls Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: Two officers responded to a 911 call for help. On entering the apartment of Garrido Morales, they found him holding a knife over his own head. He refused to obey commands to drop the knife. Fearing for their own safety, officers shot him to death.

Official Dispositon: Unreported

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

James Wilcox

Age: 34, Male

Race: Unknown

Incident Date: July 2nd, 2006

Location: North Smithfield

Agency Responsible: North Smithfield Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: A Super Stop & Shop market called police to report a shoplifter who'd made off with a quantity of baby formula. Police arrived to find Wilcox, in his minivan with his five-year-old daughter and another man. Wilcox attempted to flee and reportedly struck the officer with his vehicle. The officer shot Wilcox, fatally, once in the stomach.

Official Dispositon: Unreported

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Timothy Gileau

Age: 24, Male

Race: Unknown

Incident Date: April 1, 2006

Location: Coventry

Agency Responsible: Coventry Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: Coventry police were called to a domestic disturbance involving Gileau. Gileau produced a crowbar, threatened officers and lunged at them with the weapon. They shot him to death. A grand jury declined to indict the shooter.

Official Dispositon: Unreported

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Patrick A. Duffy

Age: 37, male

Race: European

Incident Date: September 27, 2005

Location: Providence

Agency Responsible: providence Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: Duffy is said to have threatened a man with a knife, stolen a purse from a student at a pizza restaurant, then was pursued on foot by a patrolman into a dead-end street. Duffy refused to obey police commands, threatened the officer with the knife, and was fatally shot once in the chest.

Official Dispositon: Unreported

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Jason Arcaro

Age: 26, male

Race: Unknown

Incident Date: April 4, 2004

Location: Woonsocket

Agency Responsible: Woonsocket Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: Several officers converged on Nello's Motor Sales to investigate an account that a vehicle had been tampered with. Arcano began shouting that he had a weapon, and while in the service garage he kept one hand concealed behind his back. On disobeying commands to show his hand, he was killed with one shot. Police found only a screwdriver in his back pocket.

Official Dispositon: Justified

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Alister McGregor

Age: 43, Male

Race: European

Incident Date: December 27, 2001

Location: Providence

Agency Responsible: East Providence Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: McGregor was a Providence police captain teaching SWAT techniques when he was accidentally shot to death by a fellow officer. That officer was charged with involuntary manslaughter and given a deferred five-year sentence, which does not appear on a criminal history.

Official Dispositon: Excusable

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Alfred Torres

Age: 23, Male

Race: Hispanic/Latino

Incident Date: July 26, 2001

Location: Providence

Agency Responsible: RI State Police

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: Police attention was drawn to an unregistered Buick with four people in it because of minor traffic violations. Torres was a passenger and one of four people in the car. Before the traffic stop police saw a pistol thrown out of the car -- they later recovered a .22 -- and during the stop Torres made movements the police found suspicious and threatening. He was shot once in the head.

Official Dispositon: Justified

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Douglas Cooper

Age: 18, Male

Race: African-American

Incident Date: March 22, 2014

Location: Providence

Agency Responsible: Providence Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: Police happened across two rival street groups in an active firefight, Cooper among them. Three local plainclothes officers engaged both groups when they were fired on. Cooper was the only shooting victim.

Official Dispositon: Unreported

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No

Cornel Young Jr.

Age: 29, Male

Race: African-American

Incident Date: January 28, 2000

Location: Providence

Agency Responsible: Providence Police Department

Cause of Death: Gunshot

Description: Young was an off-duty, out-of-uniform black officer at a 24-hour restaurant when a conflict broke out in the parking lot. Two white uniformed officers already on the scene immediately responded. Young produced his own handgun and positioned himself to assist. Stories differ about if, and how well, he identified himself. The other officers told him to drop his weapon, Young did not, and he was shot to death.

Official Dispositon: Cleared of criminal wrongdoing

Symptoms of Mental Illness: No