On the evening of March 22, 2014, a violent confrontation erupted on Canton Street in Providence, Rhode Island, forever altering the course of many lives. In the midst of a gunfight between two rival groups, 18-year-old Douglas Cooper, a Black/African American male, found himself in the crossfire of a volatile situation that would ultimately turn fatal.
The chaos of the shootout attracted the attention of three narcotics officers from the Providence Police Department who were patrolling the area.
As the officers arrived on the scene, they identified themselves as police. According to the police chief, they were then fired upon. In the ensuing exchange, officers returned fire, and Douglas Cooper was struck and killed by a bullet fired by the police. A firearm was reportedly found next to his body and was determined to have been discharged at both the rival group and the officers. The officers involved were placed on administrative duty, a standard procedure in police-involved shootings.
In the aftermath of the shooting, a grand jury investigated the circumstances surrounding Cooper's death. The grand jury ultimately determined that the officers' actions were lawful and legally justified, clearing them of any criminal wrongdoing. While the officers were cleared, the investigation into the initial gang-related shootout continued. Though no arrests were made for Cooper's death itself, authorities did apprehend individuals connected to the broader violence. One individual, Jayquan Garlington, believed to be a leader of the YNIC criminal street gang, was arrested shortly after the incident on firearms charges. The driver of the car Garlington was in, Tevin Briggs, later pleaded guilty to an unrelated murder.
