Providence Reeling From Officer's Murder

Security Again At Issue

First Atlanta Courthouse, Now Providence Police HQ


(Newly Updated)


The need to review courthouse and police station security has never been more clear, as the Atlanta shootings are followed by a brazen murder of a Providence police detective by his own gun, at police headquarters.

There's much more to the story than what the AP is reporting. According to Providence's NBC affiliate WJAR-TV, after suspect Estanban Carpio shot and killed detective Jimmy Allen, he jumped from a third-story window and managed to hail a taxi.

He probably could have left town, had he been able to decide whether to go to Boston, or New York City. That tipped off the driver that something was terribly wrong and relieved, but still shellshocked, police officers were summoned.

Not only was this coward not opposed to killing a cop in cold blood, he'd also allegedly attacked an elderly woman in front of her Providence home, earlier.

Especially surreal was WJAR's footage of officers surrounding their own police headquarters, eerily similar to some of the Atlanta images, seen all too recently.

Will Providence media outlets have the guts to investigate whether Carpio was in this country legally?

The American public understands that sometimes officers are killed in the line of duty, but it's hard to accept judges and cops being murdered, in courtrooms and police stations. It appears to be so much more preventable.

Anything less than a full review of procedures in every courthouse and police office should be unacceptable to the public now.

It's obvious criminals are less afraid than ever, yet law enforcement has not caught up with that new reality, in some cases they can't, as political correctness wins out over security.

And speaking of PC, under Rhode Island law, the best Carpio could ever see is life in prison. Could it be time for New Englanders to do some soul-searching on this stubborn death-penalty opposition?

Criminals don't seem too worried about the consequences of committing crimes in Rhode Island, as WJAR reported two other shootings in Providence, that occurred around the same time.



(WJAR- NBC-10 Television- Providence, Rhode Island)



PROVIDENCE -- A police detective was shot to death with his own service weapon at department headquarters early Sunday while he was questioning a potential suspect in a stabbing, the police chief said.

James Allen, a 27-year veteran, was shot in a detective conference room while questioning Estenban Carpio, Chief Dean Esserman said. Police believe Carpio, 26, who was not handcuffed, got hold of the officer's gun, shot Allen, broke a third floor window in an adjacent office and jumped onto a service road, Esserman said at a news conference. Carpio was captured after a struggle a few blocks away. Allen had been questioning Carpio about his possible connection to a stabbing attack Saturday on an 84-year-old woman, Esserman said. Carpio was not under arrest and had been taken out of handcuffs, he said. The woman was expected to recover.



(AP- Elizabeth Zuckerman- 18 April 2005)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Providence detective was killed with his own gun at police headquarters Sunday by a suspect who was not handcuffed and managed to get hold of the weapon, the police chief said.

The killing of James Allen, a 27-year veteran, comes after a series of attacks that have raised concerns about the security of those who work in the criminal justice system.

Allen, 50, was shot in the detective conference room while questioning Esteban Carpio about the stabbing of an 84-year-old woman who survived the attack, Chief Dean Esserman said. Carpio was not under arrest and had been taken out of handcuffs, he said.

Carpio, 26, allegedly grabbed the officer's gun, shot him, broke a third floor window in an adjacent office and jumped onto a service road, Esserman said at a news conference. He was captured after a struggle a few blocks away and charged with murder on Sunday night.

The chief would not say how Carpio managed to get Allen's weapon, and would not discuss other details leading up to the shooting, including whether there were witnesses.

Update: Carpio charged with murder. Our man in the Ocean State has the latest.