PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Providence police say a Warwick woman was killed and several other people were injured during a violent weekend in the city.
Police responded to Olney Street near Roger Williams Green for a report of a shooting around 3:30 a.m. Sunday.
The victim, later identified as Miya Brophy-Baermann, 24, was standing in the street talking to a friend when she was shot by people driving by in a car, according to Major David Lapatin.
Police do not believe she was the intended target.
“To be such a coward to shoot a gun out of a car like that and take a life is incredible,” Lapatin said. “We all feel for the victim as we do for every victim here.”
“I can’t fathom why anyone would ever do that to an innocent person. It is so unfair,” said Shayna Darezzo, a friend of Brophy-Baermann’s.
Darezzo tells 12 News that Brophy-Baermann recently graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in speech pathology and had just started a job in her field.
“Miya was the nicest person I’ve ever met. She was sweet to everyone. She was smart,” Darezzo said.
Brophy-Baermann was the city’s 13th homicide victim of the year.
Dozens of candles now lay in the spot where she was shot, and the high school friends who placed them there said it was the least they could do for someone with a heart of gold.
“Sweet, intelligent, you know … this is just tragic,” Darius Ovalles said.
“She would have done anything for anybody,” another friend named Joey added.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money to establish a memorial scholarship in her honor.
The deadly shooting was one of four violent events that occurred in Providence early Sunday morning.
Around 4:30 a.m., a large crowd was hanging out behind a complex off Reservoir Avenue when shots rang out. Five people were struck, including a 16-year-old, three 20-year-olds and a 22-year-old, according to Lapatin.
All of the victims are now recovering, and at last check, two had already been released from the hospital.
Several people were also stabbed in unrelated incidents.
Around 12:45 a.m., police were called to Union Avenue in the area of Route 10 for a report of a stabbing. Lapatin said there appeared to be a crash involving three vehicles, one of which left the scene.
The other two vehicles stopped and a fight broke out, during which a man was stabbed.
The victim attempted to drive himself to the hospital but couldn’t make it, Lapatin said, so he pulled over on the highway and flagged down another vehicle for help.
The driver took the wounded man to Rhode Island Hospital where he went into surgery. Lapatin said he’s now recovering.
It’s unclear at this time if the drivers involved in the crash knew each other, but Lapatin said investigators are reviewing video.
Police were then called for a report of another stabbing just before 1 a.m. on Broad and Fricker Streets. A 35-year-old man was walking with his girlfriend when he was stabbed, according to Lapatin.
He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital with a serious stab wound and is now recovering. It is believed that the victim knew his attacker, Lapatin noted.
Lapatin said police have been working around the clock since these incidents happened but no arrests have been made yet.
