Providence Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski
The house at 75 Kenway Ave., where the shootings occurred
WARWICK, R.I. -- A man shot to death his ex-girlfriend and a man who was staying at the home in a case of domestic violence at 75 Kenway Ave. in Oakland Beach Saturday, the police said.
Detective Capt. Robert Nelson identified the perpetrator as John Oliveira, 45, of 11 Youngs Ave., West Warwick, and his victims as Carla Bowen, 47, a waitress, who lived at 75 Kenway, and Christopher Butler, 52, whose last known address was 522 W. Shore Rd.
The incident occurred at about 5 a.m., when Bowen's 12-year-old twin boys were awakened by loud noises on the first floor of the residence. One boy went to a neighbor's house, according to Nelson, where he called police to report an apparent break-in accompanied by loud bangs.
The other boy crawled out onto the roof of a dormer of the house at 75 Kenway, from where first responders retrieved him. Both boys, whose names Nelson declined to give because they are minors, were temporarily placed in neighbors' care.
Nelson said Oliveira entered the small single-family house, shot Bowen and Butler multiple times and then shot himself. All were deceased at the scene.
The police recovered what they called "the murder weapon," a Sig Sauer 9mm semiautomatic pistol.
The investigation extended to 11 Youngs Ave., where Oliveira lived with his parents, according to Nelson, and where detectives were searching for evidence of a motive and other information about what preceded the crime.
Asked Butler's relationship with Bowen, Nelson said Butler was staying at the house.