The police have said that Young was waiting for some takeout food at the diner when a fight broke out and spilled into the parking lot. When Solitro and Saraiva arrived at the restaurant, they saw Diaz waving a gun. Both officers ordered Diaz to drop his weapon, and he did. But when the officers saw Young, who was off duty and wearing civilian clothes, with his gun drawn, they apparently mistook him for a suspect and fired. Both officers, who are white, have been out on sick leave since the incident.
Friends say they have spent most of their time in seclusion and in counseling.
Cunha declined to name the other witnesses because most of them have not been mentioned publicly, nor have they been charged with a crime. Meanwhile, the felony murder charge against Diaz has prompted minority groups and local clergy to cry foul. During an emotional rally outside Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr.'s office three weeks ago, members of the minority community accused the prosecution of making Diaz a scapegoat as a way to exonerate Solitro and Saraiva. At the rally, activists and clergy urged Atty. Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse to drop the felony murder charge against Diaz.