Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
WPRI 12 News
Man found dead inside Cranston home after standoff
By Kayla FishSarah DoironMelanie DaSilva,
16 hours ago
CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) — A man who shot at his wife and then at officers was found dead inside his Cranston home after an hours-long standoff, according to police.
Officers swarmed to a home on Harding Avenue around 8 p.m. Tuesday for a report of a domestic disturbance with a man who was making suicidal and homicidal statements.
The suspect, 69-year-old Neil Douglas, was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was threatening to kill himself and his wife, police said. His wife was able to escape and call 911 from a neighbor’s house.
Gunshot fired into window on Harding Avenue in Cranston (Photo: Shiina LoSciuto/WPRI-TV)
Police said Douglas shot at arriving officers but missed and struck a home across the street. No officers or residents were hit.
Nearby homes were evacuated, according to police, and four hours later officers broke a window and sent in a drone with a camera where they found Douglas dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“There’s a lot of mental health calls that we respond to,” Col. Michael Winquist said. “We’ve tried to address that through our crisis intervention team. So we go out with mental health clinicians all the time. We have officers specially trained to do that. So we are trying to address that, but in a situation like this, that happened very quickly. And again, when there’s a firearm involved, it really escalates.”
“Obviously the family is distraught. We ask that you respect their privacy,” he continued. “She is very fortunate, the wife, that she was able to escape unharmed tonight.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, seek immediate help :
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Local Rhode Island State
Most Popular
Comments / 0