Warwick woman, 24, shot to death apparently at random
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — A 24-year-old Warwick woman was killed in a Providence drive-by shooting that police believe was random.
It was one of several shootings and stabbings in the capital city over the weekend.
Miya Brophy-Baermann was shot around 3:30 Sunday morning while standing with a friend on Olney Street, outside the University Heights apartment complex on the city's East Side.
"Suddenly a car comes by at a pretty good rate of speed, fires several shots out the window, striking the young woman," Providence Police Maj. David Lapatin said Monday.
"This woman was not targeted at all, or wouldn't have been a target, we believe," Lapatin said.
Brophy-Baermann had gone to the University of Rhode Island and earned her master's degree in speech language pathology from Northeastern University this spring.
She just started a new job at a North Providence nursing home last month.
She turned 24 a little more than a week ago.
Her father Bryan told NBC 10 News that Miya "was a talented, accomplished, beautiful, caring young woman whose loss is immeasurable."
Her mother Michelle said, "She had so many friends" and "she just really wanted to help people."
"She was kind to everybody, she was sweet, intelligent, you know what I mean. It's just tragic," said Darius Ovalles, a friend from high school who stopped at the scene to leave candles.
"To be such a coward to shoot a gun out of a car like that and take a life is incredible," Lapatin said.
Also in the early hours of Sunday morning, five people shot in the parking lot of an old Stop & Shop on Reservoir Ave.
Police said there was a large crowd in the spot where they know young people hang out.
The youngest victim is 16 years old, the others are in their 20s, some with serious injuries, but all are expected to survive.
"We're not sure whether it was one or two shooters. We're not sure yet whether they were shooting at each other or the two shooters were shooting into the crowd," Lapatain said.
A 35-year-old man was stabbed near Broad Street as he walked with his girlfriend, also early Sunday.
Police said he knew the attacker.
And around that same time, police said a three-car crash then led to a fight and stabbing near the Union Avenue ramp to Route 10.
Police were not yet sure whether the people involved in that incident knew each other.
"One person was stabbed, seriously. He actually got into his car and attempted to drive to the hospital, just couldn't make it. Pulled over on the highway, flagged people down, and one driver saw him there, pulled over, and took him to Rhode Island Hospital, basically saved his life," Lapatin said.
All the Sunday overnight violence follows a stabbing 24 hours earlier on Federal Hill.
Police said there was a stabbing either inside or outside Pure nightclub on Atwells Avenue.
"We feel that Federal Hill is one of the safest neighborhoods right now in the city of Providence and work cooperatively with the police department on a regular basis," Rick Simone, head of the Federal Hill Commerce Association, told NBC 10.
Simone said there are regularly police officers on Federal Hill, particularly during busy dining times when there can be a dozen officers in the area.
"We make this city as safe as possible, like any other city does, as safe as you can. And that's what we work to do. Unfortunately, we did have a bad night. And that happens. And it happens in all cities. So, our job is to prevent that from ever happening again," Lapatin said.
City Council President John Igliozzi is now calling for a return to community policing and spending on more, diverse police academy sessions to hire more officers.