By RUSS OLIVO

WOONSOCKET — Police issued a warrant Tuesday for the arrest of a man they say was responsible for a double shooting that left two others in serious condition at Rhode Island Hospital the night before.

The alleged triggerman was identified as Lawrence E. Wright, 21, of Burnside Avenue. Police said he is wanted for two counts of attempted murder and is considered armed and dangerous.
“Should the public see Lawrence Wright, do not approach him but rather contact the Woonsocket Police Department at 766-1212 or 911 with as much detail of his whereabouts, clothing description and or vehicle information associated with him,” the police said in a statement issued last night.
Interim Police Chief Eric Croce said another man was apprehended following the shootings, but his name, nor those of the two male victims, were released pending further investigation. However, Croce said all were residents of the city, in their late 20s to early 30s.
Croce said the episode began when two pairs of men confronted each other at Quick Mart, a convenience store on Diamond Hill Road, during a pre-arranged meeting. An altercation erupted in the lot adjacent to the store during which Wright allegedly shot the first of the other two men at11:28 p.m. Monday.
“Two males met two other males and there was a problem,“ the chief said. “It quickly escalated into some violence.”
Based on interviews with Croce and the statement issued later, this is what happened:
The two shooting victims had arrived at the Quick Mart in a green truck, while Wright had arrived in a silver car, along with several other associates. During the initial altercation, only Wright and one other man got out of the silver car, while their companions remained parked on nearby Fulton Street to wait for them.
As an argument broke out near the Quick Mart, Wright allegedly fired one round from a handgun, striking one of the men from the silver car in the body.
Wright and his companion fled on foot to the vehicle waiting on Fulton Street, which began speeding away. Despite his wounds, the shooting victim and his companion returned to their truck and began pursuing the silver car along Fulton and Estes streets.
In a pursuit as brief as it was dramatic, the wounded man and his companion began ramming the getaway vehicle with their truck. Both vehicles came to a stop near Estes and Social streets, about a quarter mile away, at the Blackstone, Mass., line. There, the companion of the wounded man approached the silver vehicle on foot, at which point, he, too, was shot by Wright.
The police, already beginning to investigate reports of shots fired by this time, quickly responded to the area and took one man into custody, but Wright apparently escaped on foot.
The two victims were transported to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment of their wounds. Both were listed in serious but stable condition late Tuesday, the police said.
None of the commotion in the area of Estes and Social streets was lost on neighbors. Through much of the early morning hours on Tuesday in the wake of the shootings, police cordoned off the neighborhood as they scoured the area for clues and questioned potential witnesses.
Emilie Erickson, a mother of three who lives on Social Street, in Blackstone, just opposite Estes Street, said she had just put her children to bed when she thought she heard a gunshot.
“It sounded like a pop,” said Erickson. “I looked out the window and I saw someone running away.”
It was too dark to get a good look at him, Erickson said, but he was wearing a gray T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans.
Gladys Racine of Estes Street said she was asleep when she was awakened by the sound of “a pop,” followed by the squeal of tires. Racine said she got out of bed to ask her husband, George, if he had heard it, too, but he was busy watching television.
The Racines said they would have called the police, but officers arrived at their home in what seemed like a matter of seconds and began questioning them. The Racines told them what they’d heard.
“They really went through the neighborhood,” said George Racine.
The police scoured backyards in the area and cordoned off streets for a while, but it didn’t seem like they found much of anything — at least not at first, said George Racine. Then, about 4:30 in the morning, his daughter, Helene, thought she heard some music playing outside. She looked out and saw a cell phone lying next to a neighbor’s fence, and it was ringing. The Racines called the police, who later came to retrieve the phone.
“They said, ’Don’t touch it.’ That’s evidence.’”
Last week, the manager of a pizza shop around the corner was robbed in broad daylight; a few days ago, neighbors were rattled by a mysterious explosion; and now, gunshots. The Racines said they were surprised by the outbreak of violence in their neighborhood of densely packed tenements, but they don’t necessarily think it’s proof that the area is going to the dogs.
“We’ve lived here for 54 years,” said George Racine. “It’s always been quiet, every day. We think this was just an isolated incident.”