Warwick, RI – Kenneth Cunningham, 39, wanted for violating parole in California when he exchanged gunfire with Warwick Police after a chase through Warwick Monday, was convicted of attempted murder and had been a fugitive since November 2013, according to police.
Deputy Police Chief Michael Babula said Cunningham, believed to have ties in the Coventry/West Warwick area in the 1990s, was staying with a woman in Rhode Island at the time of his most recent arrest.
Cunningham was convicted on an attempted murder charge in California in 2000, and sentenced to 13 years, 10 months. He stayed in prison until Sept. 2012, when he was released on parole, said Babula, recounting information Warwick Police have received from Californian authorities.
Cunningham was supposed to remain under supervision of the State of California’s Corrections Department until 2016, with a tracking bracelet.
In November of 2013, Babula said, Cunningham assaulted his girlfriend in Rosedale, CA. When parole officers attempted to speak with him about the assault, they discovered he’d removed the bracelet. They were unable to locate him, and he remained a fugitive until he was spotted by Warwick Police at Oakland Beach and apprehended.
Cunningham remains at Rhode Island Hospital in stable condition after being shot several times in the torso and arm during his shootout with Warwick officers, Bubula said. No additional information on his health is being released by the hospital.
Babula says Cunningham remains at the hospital, under guard.
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at [email protected] with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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