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Providence officer shot — and he likely was saved by a bulletproof vest

Tyrone Robinson, 19, of Providence, is accused of shooting a Providence police officer. The officer was wearing a bulletproof vest. Providence Police Department

PROVIDENCE — A suspected gang member out on bail on gun charges shot an officer in his protective vest outside a strip mall in Wanskuck on Friday afternoon, according to Providence police Chief Hugh T. Clements Jr.

Clements identified the officer Friday night as Matthew McGloin.

The vest likely saved the officer’s life, said Clements. As McGloin shouted over the radio that he’d been hit, Clements said, another officer returned fire.

That officer was identified Friday night as Jonathan Smith, Clements said.

The suspect fled uninjured and ran to his residence at 645 Douglas Ave., where SWAT officers took him into custody, the chief said.

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The police also seized a firearm, he said.

Tyrone Robinson, 19, was arrested in May on a gun charge, the third such charge in recent years, Clements said. He declined to say why the officers, members of the violent crime task force, confronted the man at the Dollar Tree plaza at Douglas Avenue and Admiral Street just before 3:30 p.m.

McGloin, a decorated 10-year veteran, is known for making numerous gun arrests, including this week. The protective vest was a higher grade than the department-issued vests and the bullet had penetrated it, the chief said.

This area of Douglas Avenue is known for gunfire. As Clements and Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Pare spoke about the shooting, they stood several feet away from an apartment house with bullet holes from June 2012, when a father was slain while walking from the park with his children.


Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmandaMilkovits.