Bullet narrowly missed 2-year-old child in Pawtucket homicide, police say

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WLNE) — A bullet that hit a 25-year-old woman in Monday’s shooting in Pawtucket narrowly missed her two-year-old child, according to police.

Police said the woman was holding her two-year-old boy in her arms when she was shot.

Eric Peterson, 37, is being held without bail in the case pending a hearing in Superior Court.

Peterson is accused of shooting and killing a 28-year-old man and shooting and wounding that 25-year-old woman inside a home on Arch Street.

The woman is recovering at the hospital, police said Monday.

One of the eight charges against him is related to the near-miss of the child.

Police have not publicly identified the victims of the shooting.

In a statement Tuesday, Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien shared his condolences with the victim’s family.

“Gun violence is an issue our community needs to confront, and that is why for years the Pawtucket Police Department has worked in concert with the Institute for Nonviolence to teach de-escalation and nonviolence techniques,” Grebien said in the statement. “We all need to work together – elected leaders, public safety officials, community leaders, and youth – to address and reduce the terrible toll of gun violence.”

The shooting marked the second homicide in the last week in Pawtucket.

A man was shot and killed on Bloomingdale Avenue on April 29.