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Ex-cop who shot fellow officer in line to be local firefight
Kevin P. O'Connor 06/23/2004
PAWTUCKET -- Joseph Warzycha, the former East Providence police officer who accidentally killed his captain during a SWAT exercise, is the next person in line to be hired by the Pawtucket Fire Department.
Warzycha, 29, finished first in the department's recent recruitment drive. He is scheduled to participate in the Fire Department academy set for July. As soon as an approval is issued, he will be hired, city officials say.
Warzycha pleaded no contest to manslaughter for accidentally shooting and killing East Providence Police Capt. Alister McGregor during a SWAT training exercise on Dec. 27, 2001.
Warzycha was acting as the squad's sniper during a training exercise, practicing hostage rescue from a school bus. McGregor was leading the practice session.
During a break, McGregor was seated in the driver's seat in the bus. Warzycha was on the roof of a building, 70 yards away.
Police say Warzycha, using a hunting rifle with a scope and a tripod, sighted the gun on McGregor and pulled the trigger, believing the weapon was empty.
There was no magazine in the rifle but there was one round in the chamber. McGregor was shot in the head and died.
Warzycha was charged with manslaughter. He was given a five-year deferred sentence when he pleaded no contest in January 2003 before Superior Court Judge Gilbert Indeglia.
That sentence ended the case against Warzycha with what is legally known as "less than a conviction." Warzycha does not have a criminal record as a result of the no contest plea.
As part of the plea, Warzycha agreed that he would resign from the East Providence Police Department and that he would not seek employment with a law enforcement agency.
Those prohibitions do not include seeking work as a firefighter, according to Mayor James Doyle.
"The number one person on our hiring list is Joseph Warzycha," Doyle said on Tuesday.
"He was forthcoming about his problems in East Providence. We checked with the legal department. They didn't see any legal impediment to his taking the test and getting on the list."
Fire Chief Timothy McLaughlin confirmed that Warzycha finished at or near the top of all the department applicants in the written and physical tests and in the interviews conducted by three firefighters.
McLaughlin said there will be several openings, possibly as many as eight, when the city's new fiscal year begins on July 1.
All the applicants are state certified EMTs (Emergency Medical Technician). The top 20 applicants on the list will be part of the city's fire academy, teaching them department procedures and training them on department equipment.
Warzycha was charged with involuntary manslaughter. With his plea, he admitted that he was negligent for failing to check his weapon to make sure it was empty before entering the training exercise.
Warzycha has not yet been offered a job. By city rules, however, he must be the first person offered a job with the Fire Department because he is first on the hiring list.
Hiring in the department is expected to begin after the start of the new fiscal year
Kevin P. O'Connor 06/23/2004
PAWTUCKET -- Joseph Warzycha, the former East Providence police officer who accidentally killed his captain during a SWAT exercise, is the next person in line to be hired by the Pawtucket Fire Department.
Warzycha, 29, finished first in the department's recent recruitment drive. He is scheduled to participate in the Fire Department academy set for July. As soon as an approval is issued, he will be hired, city officials say.
Warzycha pleaded no contest to manslaughter for accidentally shooting and killing East Providence Police Capt. Alister McGregor during a SWAT training exercise on Dec. 27, 2001.
Warzycha was acting as the squad's sniper during a training exercise, practicing hostage rescue from a school bus. McGregor was leading the practice session.
During a break, McGregor was seated in the driver's seat in the bus. Warzycha was on the roof of a building, 70 yards away.
Police say Warzycha, using a hunting rifle with a scope and a tripod, sighted the gun on McGregor and pulled the trigger, believing the weapon was empty.
There was no magazine in the rifle but there was one round in the chamber. McGregor was shot in the head and died.
Warzycha was charged with manslaughter. He was given a five-year deferred sentence when he pleaded no contest in January 2003 before Superior Court Judge Gilbert Indeglia.
That sentence ended the case against Warzycha with what is legally known as "less than a conviction." Warzycha does not have a criminal record as a result of the no contest plea.
As part of the plea, Warzycha agreed that he would resign from the East Providence Police Department and that he would not seek employment with a law enforcement agency.
Those prohibitions do not include seeking work as a firefighter, according to Mayor James Doyle.
"The number one person on our hiring list is Joseph Warzycha," Doyle said on Tuesday.
"He was forthcoming about his problems in East Providence. We checked with the legal department. They didn't see any legal impediment to his taking the test and getting on the list."
Fire Chief Timothy McLaughlin confirmed that Warzycha finished at or near the top of all the department applicants in the written and physical tests and in the interviews conducted by three firefighters.
McLaughlin said there will be several openings, possibly as many as eight, when the city's new fiscal year begins on July 1.
All the applicants are state certified EMTs (Emergency Medical Technician). The top 20 applicants on the list will be part of the city's fire academy, teaching them department procedures and training them on department equipment.
Warzycha was charged with involuntary manslaughter. With his plea, he admitted that he was negligent for failing to check his weapon to make sure it was empty before entering the training exercise.
Warzycha has not yet been offered a job. By city rules, however, he must be the first person offered a job with the Fire Department because he is first on the hiring list.
Hiring in the department is expected to begin after the start of the new fiscal year