Report clears nearly a dozen officers involved in fatal shooting of Rhode Island man

JOHNSTON, R.I. (AP) — Eleven police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a Rhode Island man last year have been cleared of any wrongdoing, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office said in a report released Thursday.

James Harrison of Johnston was shot after he fled the scene of a triple shooting, in which he was accused of killing his mother and a man and injuring the man’s daughter. Ten Cranston police officers and one Providence officer opened fire on Harrison as he exited his vehicle and pointed a gun at police.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said the officers’ actions were “reasonable and legally justified.”

“This was an extremely dangerous stand-off with an armed, fleeing felon who had earlier in the day shot multiple individuals, killing two of them,” Neronha wrote. “Officers did not have much time to react or reason with Harrison.”

The report cited that Harrison pointed a gun at police, a finding corroborated by police bodycam videos and cell phone video from an eyewitness. The report also noted officers didn’t fire until they saw Harrison brandish the gun and that a silver semiautomatic handgun was found near Harrison’s body.

At the time of the shooting, Cranston Police Chief Michael Winquist told reporters that Cranston police first spotted Harrison early morning of May 24. They said a domestic and neighborhood dispute sparked the killings.

Harrison then drove the wrong way on Plainfield Pike in Cranston during a pursuit, swerved at several police vehicles and struck one, Winquist said. Harrison then jumped the median and struck a rock, disabling his vehicle. He was shot as he exited his vehicle.