Providence man who shot a police officer sentenced to 40 years

A man who shot and injured a Rhode Island police officer during an exchange of gunfire outside a laundromat in 2019 has been sentenced to serve 40 years in prison.

Tyrone Robinson, 22, of Providence was sentenced this week after pleading no contest to several charges including intent to commit murder, according to the state attorney general's office.

Robinson got out of a car and fired six shots at two officers on the afternoon of Aug. 9, 2019, striking Officer Matthew McGloin in the torso, prosecutors said. The .45 caliber bullet lodged in his body armor, likely sparing him more serious injury, authorities said.

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McGloin's partner, Officer Jonathan Smith, returned fire, then both chased Robinson as he fled on foot to his home not far away. After about 15 minutes, Robinson surrendered. McGloin received treatment at the hospital.

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Investigators recovered a Sig Sauer .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun that the defendant discarded as he fled as well as a semiautomatic rifle and dozens of rounds of ammunition from the suspect's home, prosecutors said.

The officers were members of the Providence Police Department's violent crime task force and were conducting an investigation at the time.

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"The defendant’s intent here was clear: to kill or seriously injure a police officer, with civilians nearby, and in broad daylight," Attorney General Peter Neronha said in a statement. "His conduct deserves the harshest of penalties and merits the decades of imprisonment imposed by court today."