PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Providence police have apprehended a 31-year-old man they say shot a rifle at a police officer responding to a report of a domestic incident early Wednesday morning, barricaded himself inside a home, then escaped undetected.
The officer was in a cruiser turning onto a side street at about 4 a.m. when he encountered a man with a rifle, who fired several shots, striking the cruiser twice, but missing the officer, police said.
“We are very fortunate a Providence police officer is not critically injured, if not fatally injured,” Col. Hugh Clements said.
The officer reversed out of harm’s way, the man went back inside and police surrounded the home. “We have an armed barricaded subject,” police said in a Tweet.
When police entered, the suspect had already left. He went to another residence where he surrendered without incident at about 8:45 a.m., police said.
He faces several charges, police said in a statement.
The incident came the day after the City Council held an emergency meeting with police leadership to discuss a recent surge of deadly violence in the city.
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