Police: Concord teen was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was shot and killed

Isiah Rosario, a 15-year-old Concord High School student shot and killed in Rhode Island last month was in the wrong place at the wrong time, police said.

He was not the intended target when an unidentified person shot him in the chest in the early morning hours of April 15 in the city he once called home, said Providence Police Captain Roger Aspinall.

“We haven’t named any suspects or anything like that but we’ve had some good leads and we’re still moving forward but we don’t have anything concrete yet,” said Aspinall. “We kind of know [who] but if we were able to just get that one break, that would help us. That’s what we need.”

On April 15, police responded to the Chad Brown housing complex in Providence at 2:30 a.m. for reports of a shooting. When they arrived they found Rosario laying on the ground next to a vehicle suffering from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Officers performed CPR on Rosario while waiting for rescue crews to arrive. He was transported via ambulance to Rhode Island Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

In the past few months, several other gun-related incidents were reported at the Chad Brown housing complex, none of which resulted in death or injury, Aspinall said. Police believe Rosario’s death could be related to the prior incidents.

“They seem to tie into the night the homicide happened,” Aspinall said. “We have not had witnesses come forward at this point but we have generated intel and done investigations into suspects we are looking at.”

Rosario had ties to the Chad Brown housing development where he was killed. His father was once a resident of the area and several friends and acquaintances still lived in the neighborhood, Aspinall said. The housing development is located in Providence’s Wankuck area.

The teen was reported missing from Concord on April 1 by his mother, police said. Concord police had tracked him to the Providence area prior to the shooting and notified Providence authorities, who could not locate him before he was shot.

The detective division at the Providence Police Department has followed multiple leads, conducted dozens of interviews and gathered additional evidence related to the incident. The firearm has not been located.

Rosario moved to Concord from Providence toward the end of the 2021-2022 school year where he joined his eighth grade class at Rundlett Middle School before starting his freshman year at Concord High School, principal Michael Reardon said in a previous interview.

Reardon said Rosario was quickly becoming well-known and liked. The news of his death left the high school community angry, confused and sad.

“We don’t want this to turn into a cold case; we are so close,” Aspinall said. “Homicides are difficult but when you throw in children, there is nothing worse for a parent that has to bury a child.”