# Former Officer Who Shot Colleague To Death Gets Pension



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*PROVIDENCE -- *One of the former Providence police officers who shot a former colleague to death has been awarded a disability pension.

Michael Solitro was a rookie officer and had been on the police force just a few days when he and a fellow officer shot Cornel Young Jr, to death.

Young was in plain clothes and had his gun drawn as he responded to a fight at a diner when his colleagues mistook him for a suspect and shot him.

Solitro returned to work after the shooting, but left the force soon after. Police union President Robert Paniccia said Solitro could not handle the stress of the job after the shooting.

The city Retirement Board awarded Solitro 67 percent of his annual salary.

_Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed._​


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## CJIS (Mar 12, 2005)

Are you $!ting me?


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## JoninNH (Jan 29, 2004)

A few weeks on the job and a 67% pension. Wonderful.


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## irish937 (Sep 13, 2005)

Before being critical one might want to look at the particular incident. Try for a bit of empathy here and tell me if you might feel the same way. Killing a suspect is traumatic enough. Now imagine that you killed one of your own. Anyone who has been in a "shoot" situation knows how fast they go down. The laws in the particular state govern how the pension system is run. Besides, whether you get disabled with one hour on the job, or fifty years, the pension is still the same. That's the way it goes. Who are we to criticize what this kid gets? Is he a pussy or something because he couldn't work anymore? Is it fair to say that he is "damaged goods" and probably won't be "right" ever again. I thought we were supposed to stick together here.


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## Guest (Feb 24, 2006)

I'd say it's well-deserved. I can't imagine a more traumatic thing than accidentally killing one of your own.


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## 94c (Oct 21, 2005)

Delta784 said:


> I'd say it's well-deserved. I can't imagine a more traumatic thing than accidentally killing one of your own.


well said, the rest of you don't have a clue


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## THE RP (Oct 1, 2005)

Not only does he have to carry it but I want to remind everyone what kind of a fiasco this incident has turned into due to the litigation and resulting press feeding frenzy...This kid can't work for amillion reasons and none of them were of his doing other than showing up for work that night...I wish him luck and hope he can carry on...


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## 94c (Oct 21, 2005)

does anyone know what 67% of bottom step patrolman pay would be in providence? probably not enough to live comfortably on if you have a family.


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## Piper (Nov 19, 2004)

yup, he should get the pension, I know I'd be junk after a situation like that....


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## j809 (Jul 5, 2002)

I'm glad he got a pension. This kid will be a mess for the rest of his life. I would rather see him with a pension then on the street where he could get himself or another officer hurt. For all the guys who criticize him, I hope you never have to shoot a person and kill them, nevermind another officer. This kid was only on the street for a few days and his career is over.


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## HousingCop (May 14, 2004)

He deserves 100% pension in my opinion. He did the right thing along with his partner and they both got dragged through the mud. How's a new guy supposed to know that a possible suspect carrying a nickle plated .380 and wearing what some describe as "gang attire" was a fellow cop? Bottom line is if one is in civilian clothes with no badge prominantly displayed, one should not run at the police while armed with what looks like a non department issured F/A. He should have stayed on the cell phone with PD dispatch & relayed critical information instead of acting & playing the fool. 


JoninNH said:


> A few weeks on the job and a 67% pension. Wonderful.


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## MVS (Jul 2, 2003)

Piper said:


> yup, he should get the pension, I know I'd be junk after a situation like that....


Junk?.. If that were me, I'd be lucky if I didn't off myself. It's rough. He deserves every penny.


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## speccop (Nov 21, 2005)

HousingCop said:


> He deserves 100% pension in my opinion. He did the right thing along with his partner and they both got dragged through the mud. How's a new guy supposed to know that a possible suspect carrying a nickle plated .380 and wearing what some describe as "gang attire" was a fellow cop? Bottom line is if one is in civilian clothes with no badge prominantly displayed, one should not run at the police while armed with what looks like a non department issured F/A. He should have stayed on the cell phone with PD dispatch & relayed critical information instead of acting & playing the fool.


I couldn't agree more...the poor guy must be a complete wreck. What a shame. And what the hell was wrong with the dumbass off duty cop running around playing Starsky and Hutch?! I wonder if it ever occurred to him that at least one cop on duty might not recognize him in civilian clothes w/o a badge around his neck...I mean it's a small dept. and all :wm: ...dumbass!


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## sdb29 (Jul 17, 2002)

You know- I've watched some TV shows about major airplane crashes. A lot of times these big airplane crashes are caused by a series of little, almost insignificant errors or events; errors or events that if only one or a few of these things happened wouldn't be enough to cause the plane crash. But because all of these small errors or events happened in the unfortunately right sequence a plane crashes and 250 people are killed.
This shooting might be like that too. Maybe if there wasn't a radio playing loud music Cornell Young might have heard the warnings and followed commands. Maybe if the parking lot was better lit the uniformed cops might have recognized the off duty and not shot him. Maybe, might have, could have. It doesn't matter, really. Some off duty cop who was trying to do the right thing is dead, and the cop who shot him by mistake will never be the same. I wonder what kind of nightmares he's having every night?
Pointing fingers and calling the dead guy a dumbass or the living guy a loser becasue he's getting a pension isn't productive. Sometimes bad things happen, and there's no one to blame- they just happen.


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## speccop (Nov 21, 2005)

sdb29 said:


> Pointing fingers and calling the dead guy a dumbass or the living guy a loser becasue he's getting a pension isn't productive. Sometimes bad things happen, and there's no one to blame- they just happen.


And other times bad things happen because people get sloppy. This cop deserves his pension after all this...it's one of the worst things that could've happened. And there is nothing that anyone can say to me to change my mind about running around in plain clothes with a gun out. Put your badge on a chain and keep it around your neck so everyone can see you're a cop and not the next wacko with a pistola when you're getting involved in such situations.

I'm sorry the off-duty cop died, it sucks and could've been avoided. It's always a shame to loose a brother officer, and it REALLY sucks to loose him by the hand of another brother officer.

And I'm sorry I'm such a stickler for common sense...


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## bluesamurai22 (Nov 20, 2004)

Horrible situation all around. I see no problem with the guy getting the pension. How could he possibly continue working there? It would be horrible for everyone in the department.


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