The Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A former Rhode Island police officer has been sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting his firefighter neighbor during a neighborhood dispute last year.
Nicholas Gianquitti was convicted in April of second-degree murder in the May 2008 killing of Cranston firefighter James Pagano.
The two neighbors fought after children at Pagano’s house accidentally hit a tennis ball into Gianquitti’s car. Gianquitti cursed at the children when they retrieved it.
Pagano confronted the former Providence police officer at his house and punched him in the face. Gianquitti then shot Pagano, who later died in the hospital.
Gianquitti has said he fired in self-defense, fearing for his life after Pagano hit him.