Story and Photo
Camera catches alleged shooter at R.I. festival
by Laurel J. Sweet
Monday, August 7, 2000
In an apparent attempt to kill his girlfriend's ex-husband, police
said a Roslindale man opened fire at a crammed Puerto Rican
festival in Providence yesterday afternoon and shot four people,
including a child.
David Fontanez, 38, who was captured on film with the gun still in
his hand by a Providence Journal photographer, eluded arrest by
Rhode Island and Massachusetts authorities last night.
Praising Journal photographer Rachel
Ritchie's ``courageous actions,''
Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci
Jr. last night said, ``We probably
have one of the best pieces of
evidence the Providence police have
ever had in the commission of a
crime.''
``A lovers' triangle'' triggered the
4:30 p.m. shootout on Borenuen
Street near Interstate 95, said
Providence police Maj. Martin Hames.
``They were all at the festival,'' he said.
Police said three bystanders were hit by bullets as Fontanez
chased Colon through the crowd, pulling the gun's trigger.
Fontanez, a native Puerto Rican, was last known to be living on
Hyde Park Avenue in Roslindale, Boston police said.
Witnesses told Providence police he fled the festival in a blue
Toyota with Massachusetts plates.
Luis Colon, 39, the former husband of Fontanez's girlfriend, Lucy
Vega, was shot in the chest, Hames said. Colon, the most seriously
hurt of all, was in critical condition last night at Rhode Island
Hospital, hospital spokesman Eric White said.
A 13-year-old boy, who Hames said was shot in the ankle, was
treated at Hasbro Children's Hospital and released, White said.
Two women who were also shot during the melee, Idis Ramon, 49, and
Maria Dellacruz, 44, both of Providence, were in satisfactory
condition last night at Rhode Island Hospital, White said.
Hames said the crowd numbered more than 1,000, ``but we had no
idea the festival was even going on.''
Police were not present when Fontanez opened fire, but Hames said,
``I'm sure it was total chaos.''
Cianci echoed investigators' assertions that the shooting
apparently stemmed from some kind of a domestic dispute.
He, too, said the city was unaware there was a festival being held
this weekend.
One of several photographs snapped by Ritchie, who was covering
the celebrations, clearly shows a tattooed man dressed in a tank
top, shorts, and thick gold chains, walking away, clutching a
handgun.
``We have an actual photograph of the shooter,'' Cianci said.
While Fontanez was allegedly firing off bullets, Cianci said
Ritchie ``was doing some shooting of her own.''
Police tried to confiscate the film and took both Ritchie and her
cameras to the police station.
Ritchie was released with her equipment after discussions with the
newspaper's lawyers, and the Journal agreed to share the photo
with the police.
Witnesses at the festival said the man pulled the gun and started
shooting while people in the crowd tried to take cover.
Friends of Colon said they had to carry him two blocks to the
hospital because emergency crews could not get through the
festival crowds.
------------------
~USP
"[Even if there would be] few tears shed if and when the Second Amendment is held to guarantee nothing more than the state National Guard, this would simply show that the Founders were right when they feared that some future generation might wish to abandon liberties that they considered essential, and so sought to protect those liberties in a Bill of Rights. We may tolerate the abridgement of property rights and the elimination of a right to bear arms; but we should not pretend that these are not reductions of rights." -- Justice Scalia 1998
Camera catches alleged shooter at R.I. festival
by Laurel J. Sweet
Monday, August 7, 2000
In an apparent attempt to kill his girlfriend's ex-husband, police
said a Roslindale man opened fire at a crammed Puerto Rican
festival in Providence yesterday afternoon and shot four people,
including a child.
David Fontanez, 38, who was captured on film with the gun still in
his hand by a Providence Journal photographer, eluded arrest by
Rhode Island and Massachusetts authorities last night.
Praising Journal photographer Rachel
Ritchie's ``courageous actions,''
Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci
Jr. last night said, ``We probably
have one of the best pieces of
evidence the Providence police have
ever had in the commission of a
crime.''
``A lovers' triangle'' triggered the
4:30 p.m. shootout on Borenuen
Street near Interstate 95, said
Providence police Maj. Martin Hames.
``They were all at the festival,'' he said.
Police said three bystanders were hit by bullets as Fontanez
chased Colon through the crowd, pulling the gun's trigger.
Fontanez, a native Puerto Rican, was last known to be living on
Hyde Park Avenue in Roslindale, Boston police said.
Witnesses told Providence police he fled the festival in a blue
Toyota with Massachusetts plates.
Luis Colon, 39, the former husband of Fontanez's girlfriend, Lucy
Vega, was shot in the chest, Hames said. Colon, the most seriously
hurt of all, was in critical condition last night at Rhode Island
Hospital, hospital spokesman Eric White said.
A 13-year-old boy, who Hames said was shot in the ankle, was
treated at Hasbro Children's Hospital and released, White said.
Two women who were also shot during the melee, Idis Ramon, 49, and
Maria Dellacruz, 44, both of Providence, were in satisfactory
condition last night at Rhode Island Hospital, White said.
Hames said the crowd numbered more than 1,000, ``but we had no
idea the festival was even going on.''
Police were not present when Fontanez opened fire, but Hames said,
``I'm sure it was total chaos.''
Cianci echoed investigators' assertions that the shooting
apparently stemmed from some kind of a domestic dispute.
He, too, said the city was unaware there was a festival being held
this weekend.
One of several photographs snapped by Ritchie, who was covering
the celebrations, clearly shows a tattooed man dressed in a tank
top, shorts, and thick gold chains, walking away, clutching a
handgun.
``We have an actual photograph of the shooter,'' Cianci said.
While Fontanez was allegedly firing off bullets, Cianci said
Ritchie ``was doing some shooting of her own.''
Police tried to confiscate the film and took both Ritchie and her
cameras to the police station.
Ritchie was released with her equipment after discussions with the
newspaper's lawyers, and the Journal agreed to share the photo
with the police.
Witnesses at the festival said the man pulled the gun and started
shooting while people in the crowd tried to take cover.
Friends of Colon said they had to carry him two blocks to the
hospital because emergency crews could not get through the
festival crowds.
------------------
~USP
"[Even if there would be] few tears shed if and when the Second Amendment is held to guarantee nothing more than the state National Guard, this would simply show that the Founders were right when they feared that some future generation might wish to abandon liberties that they considered essential, and so sought to protect those liberties in a Bill of Rights. We may tolerate the abridgement of property rights and the elimination of a right to bear arms; but we should not pretend that these are not reductions of rights." -- Justice Scalia 1998
