In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Options
E. Providence officer slain in SWAT drill
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
12.28.2001 / Updated 2:40 p.m. E. Providence officer slain in SWAT drillBY AMANDA MILKOVITS, JENNIFER LEVITZ and DAVID McPHERSONJournal and projo.com staff writers EAST PROVIDENCE -- The rifle that fired a shot killing an East Providence police officer in a training exercise yesterday arrived on the scene after the drill had begun and other guns had been checked, Police Chief Gary Dias disclosed this morning. Capt. Alister C. McGregor was killed instantly when he was shot once in the head from a distance of about 70 to 80 yards by the department's trained sniper during a SWAT team exercise, Dias told reporters gathered at the police station.The rifle, which is equipped with a scope, had been brought to the site of the training exercise at McGregor's request, Dias said. It had previously been locked up at the nearby East Providence police station.Before the drill at a school bus storage lot began, all weapons to be used were checked to be sure they were not loaded, the police chief said. It was unclear whether the scope-equipped rifle had been checked as it should have been when brought later to the drill, Dias said.He emphasized that the rifle should not have been loaded.Dias still would not identify the officer who shot McGregor, but described him as a "good young police officer" who trained under McGregor. The officer who fired the fatal shot collapsed when he realized he had shot his "mentor," Dias said. The officer, who may be identified later today, has been placed on administrative leave.The shooting continues to be investigated by the state police and East Providence police. Dias said the case will be brought before a grand jury for review. AP photoPOLICE MEMORIAL: A photo of East Providence police Capt. Alister C. McGregor hangs against a flag at the police station today.
The two officers were among 12 SWAT-team members acting out a scenario of students being held hostage aboard a school bus, using the Commercial Way storage lot owned by Laidlaw Education Services, a short distance from the police station. They were experienced officers, Dias said, and the exercise was part of their regular twice-monthly team training. The 43-year-old McGregor, with 16 years of experience and the father of five, was considered an expert on police use of deadly force. He was one of the officers who helped draw up the city's emergency-response plan in case of school shootings. He was promoted just last month to captain and commander of the patrol division. His wife is also a police officer.At around 1:30 p.m., McGregor was inside a parked school bus when he was shot. Dias said he didn't know where the other officer was when the gun was fired. The other officer, a five-year veteran, was brought to a hospital and was under sedation for shock, Dias said yesterday. This morning, the chief said he had been released from the hospital and was with family members. Yesterday, Dias said he was unable to say why live ammunition had been used in the training exercise. "It should not have been," he said. "We haven't determined that yet." State police detectives are helping East Providence investigate the shooting. Dias had asked Col. Steven Pare, state police superintendent, for help. "Everyone is just emotionally drained right now," Dias said of his officers. Atty. Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse was at the scene. The Providence Police Department has offered help. A critical-incident stress team of police officers now at Ground Zero in New York City said it wants to return and help East Providence police officers deal with the death. The flag outside the Police Department was lowered to half-staff. All afternoon, police officers and firefighters walked around the bus storage lot, their faces filled with grief. All their badges were covered with black bands that had been placed there after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Now, the bands stood for the loss of one of their own. In his 29 years with the East Providence Police Department, Dias couldn't remember another tragedy that equaled this one for his department. He spoke softly to the media as cars and trucks whizzed past him a few feet away on Taunton Avenue. A bitter wind blew, but Dias stood without a hat, his eyes red-rimmed, and seemed not to notice the cold. "He was a good person, a parent, and this is going to be difficult for a lot of people," Dias said. It's been nearly two years since a police officer in Rhode Island was accidentally shot and killed by fellow officers. The accidental shooting of off-duty Providence police Sgt. Cornel Young Jr. in January 2000 devastated the Providence Police Department and spurred changes, such as the formation of state and local commissions to recommend ways to improve policing. One of those groups, the Rhode Island Select Commission on Race and Police-Community Relations, had learned much about how the police are trained to use deadly force from McGregor, said Executive Director Lois Wims. She was driving yesterday afternoon when a staff member called her about McGregor's death. She was shaken and had to pull over to the side of the road. Journal photo / Ruben W. PerezSORTING OUT THE TRAGEDY: Detectives look over the body of Capt. Alister C. McGregor in the driver's seat of a school bus.
"I told Mrs. Young [Sgt. Young's mother, Leisa] that we wanted to make sure this never happened again, not to another mother," Wims said. "It's just so hard. It's been such a hideous year." She said McGregor understood the split-second decision that police officers may face, that moment when they do or do not pull the trigger. He was the "go-to guy" on the use of deadly force, she said. He impressed the commission members, who included his own boss, Chief Dias. "I remember how bright, opinionated, and witty he was," Wims said. "He was a consummate professional." She was sickened by his death and disturbed by the irony that an officer who was so committed to training in reducing deadly mistakes became the victim of one. Even as questions remained about what happened, Dias was firm on one particular point. SWAT-team training would continue. "Other people have been shot, wounded and killed during training exercises, both in law enforcement and in the military," Dias said. "I don't want to say it's a part of life, but it is, and training will go on. Hopefully, no one will make the same mistake again." As the sun sank low in the horizon, more police officers and firefighters arrived at the bus storage lot. They began to assemble. By 5 p.m., McGregor's body was lifted from the school bus and moved inside a white police van. Firefighters and police officers lined up on either side, and some saluted as the van slowly drove past them. One cruiser pulled in front of the van; another drove behind it. Their blue and white lights flashed as the police cars slowly proceeded away from the bus lot. Two police officers from neighboring Seekonk, Mass., stopped the evening rush-hour traffic on Taunton Avenue and waved lights to signal the small procession onto the main road. The cruisers and the van progressed slowly down Route 44, straddling the two-lane road past long lines of headlights and curious motorists. For the moment, the main road was silent except for the hum of idling motors. There was a tense silence at the small East Providence police station, where a Christmas wreath hung on the brick exterior, and a God Bless America poster covered almost an entire window at the entrance. The police station has a small-town feel. There is a notice about a missing dog on the lobby's bulletin board, and on the wall, framed pictures of local residents who have completed training for the department's citizens' academy. But the police officers are held in highest esteem. Under a glass case, on the lobby's blue cement wall, are plaques naming every officer who has won the "police officer of the month" award during the past several years. One of the plaques states that Alister C. McGregor earned the honor in July of 1992. Also prominent in the lobby, is a picture of a police officer killed in the line of duty in 1952. Yesterday, a nervous receptionist was telling caller after caller that she could not give out any specific details. Yes, she told them, she knew there was a commotion and a lot of police cars down the street. Once, in between calls, she put her head in her hands. A few people, who seemed to be off-duty police officers, hurried in, wearing fleece jackets and street clothes, as if they had been home, enjoying the Christmas holidays. One man wiped tears away. One woman burst in, worry on her face. She hurried to the counter, and asked about her husband, "John," who had been part of the SWAT training. "He's OK," the receptionist said. "He's still out there [at the scene]." The night shift was starting, and cars, some with tiny American flags attached to their antennas, rolled into the parking lot. As dusk approached, a man dressed in street clothes walked outside into the bitter cold. He lowered the flag to half-staff. Until a few months ago, when the family moved to Barrington, McGregor and his family lived in the Rumford section of East Providence. To one neighbor, Michelle Rose, McGregor looked like a police officer. He had a serious, almost stern countenance; he had ruddy, "Irish" cheeks, a rugged build, and a buzz-cut of reddish hair. "He had that 'officer' look," Rose said last night, smiling at the memory of her neighbor. "I'd drive down the street, and make sure my car radio was turned down low . . . things like that." But what the neighbors quickly came to realize, is that he and his family were kind, industrious people with goals. It seemed like they rarely let a day go to waste. "You could tell they were on their way up," Rose said. McGregor graduated from East Providence High School, earned a degree in administration of justice from Roger Williams University and was studying for his master's degree there. McGregor and his wife, Brooke, had spoken to neighbors of their plans to eventually move to Barrington. But in Rumford, they carefully tended to their Cape Cod-style house, which has a white brick chimney and dormered windows. The couple were often busy in the yard, their two little boys playing nearby. They planted grass and replaced the shrubbery. "They might have worked opposing shifts, but you thought of them together, as a little family," said Karen DiChristopher, another neighbor. "You never really saw them apart, or without their kids. They worked hard, and did things right. They really did." Sometimes, on a Saturday, or summer afternoon, other East Providence police officers would swing by. They appeared to be younger officers, DiChristopher said, who looked up to their elder, who was quickly climbing the ranks. At the end of the summer, the family said they were moving. They had found their dream home, in Barrington. Last night, that street was packed with cars -- mourners of an officer. His family and friends were inside, privately grieving. With reports from staff writer Jonathan Rockoff. http://www.projo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/news/06769421.htm
The two officers were among 12 SWAT-team members acting out a scenario of students being held hostage aboard a school bus, using the Commercial Way storage lot owned by Laidlaw Education Services, a short distance from the police station. They were experienced officers, Dias said, and the exercise was part of their regular twice-monthly team training. The 43-year-old McGregor, with 16 years of experience and the father of five, was considered an expert on police use of deadly force. He was one of the officers who helped draw up the city's emergency-response plan in case of school shootings. He was promoted just last month to captain and commander of the patrol division. His wife is also a police officer.At around 1:30 p.m., McGregor was inside a parked school bus when he was shot. Dias said he didn't know where the other officer was when the gun was fired. The other officer, a five-year veteran, was brought to a hospital and was under sedation for shock, Dias said yesterday. This morning, the chief said he had been released from the hospital and was with family members. Yesterday, Dias said he was unable to say why live ammunition had been used in the training exercise. "It should not have been," he said. "We haven't determined that yet." State police detectives are helping East Providence investigate the shooting. Dias had asked Col. Steven Pare, state police superintendent, for help. "Everyone is just emotionally drained right now," Dias said of his officers. Atty. Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse was at the scene. The Providence Police Department has offered help. A critical-incident stress team of police officers now at Ground Zero in New York City said it wants to return and help East Providence police officers deal with the death. The flag outside the Police Department was lowered to half-staff. All afternoon, police officers and firefighters walked around the bus storage lot, their faces filled with grief. All their badges were covered with black bands that had been placed there after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Now, the bands stood for the loss of one of their own. In his 29 years with the East Providence Police Department, Dias couldn't remember another tragedy that equaled this one for his department. He spoke softly to the media as cars and trucks whizzed past him a few feet away on Taunton Avenue. A bitter wind blew, but Dias stood without a hat, his eyes red-rimmed, and seemed not to notice the cold. "He was a good person, a parent, and this is going to be difficult for a lot of people," Dias said. It's been nearly two years since a police officer in Rhode Island was accidentally shot and killed by fellow officers. The accidental shooting of off-duty Providence police Sgt. Cornel Young Jr. in January 2000 devastated the Providence Police Department and spurred changes, such as the formation of state and local commissions to recommend ways to improve policing. One of those groups, the Rhode Island Select Commission on Race and Police-Community Relations, had learned much about how the police are trained to use deadly force from McGregor, said Executive Director Lois Wims. She was driving yesterday afternoon when a staff member called her about McGregor's death. She was shaken and had to pull over to the side of the road. Journal photo / Ruben W. PerezSORTING OUT THE TRAGEDY: Detectives look over the body of Capt. Alister C. McGregor in the driver's seat of a school bus.
"I told Mrs. Young [Sgt. Young's mother, Leisa] that we wanted to make sure this never happened again, not to another mother," Wims said. "It's just so hard. It's been such a hideous year." She said McGregor understood the split-second decision that police officers may face, that moment when they do or do not pull the trigger. He was the "go-to guy" on the use of deadly force, she said. He impressed the commission members, who included his own boss, Chief Dias. "I remember how bright, opinionated, and witty he was," Wims said. "He was a consummate professional." She was sickened by his death and disturbed by the irony that an officer who was so committed to training in reducing deadly mistakes became the victim of one. Even as questions remained about what happened, Dias was firm on one particular point. SWAT-team training would continue. "Other people have been shot, wounded and killed during training exercises, both in law enforcement and in the military," Dias said. "I don't want to say it's a part of life, but it is, and training will go on. Hopefully, no one will make the same mistake again." As the sun sank low in the horizon, more police officers and firefighters arrived at the bus storage lot. They began to assemble. By 5 p.m., McGregor's body was lifted from the school bus and moved inside a white police van. Firefighters and police officers lined up on either side, and some saluted as the van slowly drove past them. One cruiser pulled in front of the van; another drove behind it. Their blue and white lights flashed as the police cars slowly proceeded away from the bus lot. Two police officers from neighboring Seekonk, Mass., stopped the evening rush-hour traffic on Taunton Avenue and waved lights to signal the small procession onto the main road. The cruisers and the van progressed slowly down Route 44, straddling the two-lane road past long lines of headlights and curious motorists. For the moment, the main road was silent except for the hum of idling motors. There was a tense silence at the small East Providence police station, where a Christmas wreath hung on the brick exterior, and a God Bless America poster covered almost an entire window at the entrance. The police station has a small-town feel. There is a notice about a missing dog on the lobby's bulletin board, and on the wall, framed pictures of local residents who have completed training for the department's citizens' academy. But the police officers are held in highest esteem. Under a glass case, on the lobby's blue cement wall, are plaques naming every officer who has won the "police officer of the month" award during the past several years. One of the plaques states that Alister C. McGregor earned the honor in July of 1992. Also prominent in the lobby, is a picture of a police officer killed in the line of duty in 1952. Yesterday, a nervous receptionist was telling caller after caller that she could not give out any specific details. Yes, she told them, she knew there was a commotion and a lot of police cars down the street. Once, in between calls, she put her head in her hands. A few people, who seemed to be off-duty police officers, hurried in, wearing fleece jackets and street clothes, as if they had been home, enjoying the Christmas holidays. One man wiped tears away. One woman burst in, worry on her face. She hurried to the counter, and asked about her husband, "John," who had been part of the SWAT training. "He's OK," the receptionist said. "He's still out there [at the scene]." The night shift was starting, and cars, some with tiny American flags attached to their antennas, rolled into the parking lot. As dusk approached, a man dressed in street clothes walked outside into the bitter cold. He lowered the flag to half-staff. Until a few months ago, when the family moved to Barrington, McGregor and his family lived in the Rumford section of East Providence. To one neighbor, Michelle Rose, McGregor looked like a police officer. He had a serious, almost stern countenance; he had ruddy, "Irish" cheeks, a rugged build, and a buzz-cut of reddish hair. "He had that 'officer' look," Rose said last night, smiling at the memory of her neighbor. "I'd drive down the street, and make sure my car radio was turned down low . . . things like that." But what the neighbors quickly came to realize, is that he and his family were kind, industrious people with goals. It seemed like they rarely let a day go to waste. "You could tell they were on their way up," Rose said. McGregor graduated from East Providence High School, earned a degree in administration of justice from Roger Williams University and was studying for his master's degree there. McGregor and his wife, Brooke, had spoken to neighbors of their plans to eventually move to Barrington. But in Rumford, they carefully tended to their Cape Cod-style house, which has a white brick chimney and dormered windows. The couple were often busy in the yard, their two little boys playing nearby. They planted grass and replaced the shrubbery. "They might have worked opposing shifts, but you thought of them together, as a little family," said Karen DiChristopher, another neighbor. "You never really saw them apart, or without their kids. They worked hard, and did things right. They really did." Sometimes, on a Saturday, or summer afternoon, other East Providence police officers would swing by. They appeared to be younger officers, DiChristopher said, who looked up to their elder, who was quickly climbing the ranks. At the end of the summer, the family said they were moving. They had found their dream home, in Barrington. Last night, that street was packed with cars -- mourners of an officer. His family and friends were inside, privately grieving. With reports from staff writer Jonathan Rockoff. http://www.projo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/news/06769421.htm
Comments
Ignis Natura Renovatur Integram
when all else fails........................
Reserving my Right to Arm Bears!!!!
Ignis Natura Renovatur Integram