Ambush Gun Attack In Cranston Shopping Center Parking Lot: Cops

CRANSTON, RI — A gunman opened fire on a man as he exited the LA Fitness in the Garden City Center shopping complex Wednesday morning, police said.

Officers were alerted to the shooting via a 911 call shortly before noon Wednesday, said Cranston Police Chief Michael J. Winquist.

The police were already involved in a standoff with a man wanted in connection with an armed robbery in Pawtucket who was holed up in a basement apartment of a house on Warwick Avenue, Winquist said, but a number of officers were dispatched from that scene to the shopping center.

The two incidents were not related, he said.

Officers learned the gunman had exited a parked car, produced a pistol and ran at the man leaving the LA Fitness, firing at him five times.

See also: Update: Wanted Armed Robber Captured After Standoff, Cops Say

The targeted man managed to make it to safety without being hit, Winquist said, and the shooter jumped in the passenger side of the vehicle and took off.

A description of the fleeing vehicle was broadcast and a Rhode Island State Trooper spotted it heading north on Interstate 95, he said.

During the ensuing pursuit, the fleeing vehicle was involved in two crashes, police said, and it exited near Providence Place Mall.

Two men ditched the vehicle and made a run for it, Winquist said, but were captured, with one found in possession of a handgun in his waistband.

The state police took the men into custody and Cranston detectives were working Wednesday with troopers on the case.