Prosecutors say officers involved in fatal Woonsocket shooting were justified

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The officers involved in a fatal shooting in Woonsocket last year have been cleared, the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office announced Friday.

Attorney General Peter Neronha said the actions of Rhode Island State Police detectives Theodore Gibbons and Greg DeMarco and a deputy United States Marshal were found lawful and legally justified.

Russell Dufault was killed in a shooting that happened when troopers were trying to arrest him on April 28, 2022.

Police surround a vehicle after a fatal shooting involving troopers in Woonsocket, April 27, 2022. (WLNE)

State police said that morning, a woman reported that 58-year-old Dufault had assaulted her by forcing her out of her car by gunpoint in the driveway of her Little Compton home. She claimed he then demanded $80,000.

A warrant was issued for Dufault on felony assault and kidnapping.

The State Police Violent Fugitive Task Force later found him on North Main Street in Woonsocket.

Police said Dufault drove off and struck a U.S. marshal. He then pinned a trooper between two cars.

Both Gibbons and DeMarco were placed on administrative leave as authorities investigated the shooting.