Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements addresses the media after the shooting. (Twitter)
Lisa Pina-Warren, director of victim services, confirmed that eight victims were in the hospital with two requiring surgery. Others are reportedly in stable condition with multiple different wounds – arms, legs, one in the chest . Further details about the victims were not provided and it is unclear if they are all involved in the shootout. These are groups that we are familiar with, Clements said. This is not random. It was targeted at that address. He added, We have a good handle on everyone that is involved in this incident. They’re well known to Providence Police. According to reports, a group of men drove up to the house in Carolina Street and began firing at the house, leading those inside to respond by firing back. It s unfortunate that young men in this community have no regard for life at times, Clements added. They fire the guns willingly at each other, which is the cas
It was Brandin s father. Unc, Brandin s been shot five times.
Potter, struggling to compose himself, asked his nephew to repeat the news, only to hear it once more. Brandin s been shot five times.
As reality sank in, Potter then asked how he was doing. He doesn t look good, unc.
Six days later, McKinney succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. He was 27 years old.
2021: Gun violence in Providence
All told, seven lives have been taken by gun violence on the city s streets since the start of the year. By this time last year, the shooting death toll was one. At the same point in 2019, it was two.
Providence saw a spike in homicides and shootings in 2020.
The Police Department recorded 18 homicides in the year. The department reported 13 murders and nonnegligent manslaughters to the FBI in 2019 and 10 in 2018, according to FBI data.
The increase in shootings, which include people killed or injured by gunfire, was even starker: 73 victims as of Dec. 29, compared to 35 for all of 2019. That’s just as troubling as the increase in murders, because the difference between a fatal shooting and a nonfatal shooting is often just luck.
The increases came despite a remarkably peaceful start to the year. In the nearly six months between the beginning of October 2019 and late March 2020, there were no homicides, a stretch broken by the shooting death of a man in Roger Williams Park.