PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A midmorning chase and shootout involving several police officers on busy Interstate 95 in Providence left one person dead and one injured Thursday.
Police said several officers were chasing a white pickup truck with two people inside when the shooting happened around 10:45 a.m. on a stretch of the interstate that skirts the city’s downtown and the Providence Place mall.
A woman in the truck was injured and taken to Rhode Island Hospital in serious condition, Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare said. A medical examiner’s vehicle was spotted at the scene, CBS affiliate WPRI-TV reports.
“We are actively investigating all the circumstances. There are multiple officers involved in the shooting, and we have one person that is deceased,” Pare said.
The aftermath of a shootout on Interstate 95 in Providence, Rhode Island, on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017.
WBZ
Pare said the shootout was related to the theft of a state police cruiser earlier in the day. He said authorities still were investigating the extent to which they were related.
Witnesses told local news outlets they saw a shootout involving a white pickup and other vehicles. The truck sat riddled with bullets on the road Thursday afternoon as police swarmed over the highway looking for shell casings.
Asked whether the shootout started with the theft of the cruiser earlier in the day, State Police Col. Ann Assumpico said that was still under investigation.
Police have released few details of the theft other than to say the cruiser was taken around 9 a.m. Thursday during a traffic stop on Route 146. It was found within the hour abandoned in Providence, but the thief was not located. Police then launched a search throughout the neighborhood and were seen searching house-to-house with rifles and dogs.
Emergency management officials asked people to avoid the area around the highway and mall. A robocall from an emergency alert service to downtown Providence offices told people to avoid the area.
“An incident occurred in the downtown Providence area. Multiple road closures and backups on 95,” it said.
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