'They're treating him like a criminal': Family of man shot by Bristol police speaks

The family of the man shot by Bristol police says the 39-year-old began unraveling two weeks earlier as the first anniversary of his mother’s death approached on Oct. 8.

“He’s been dealing with so much since the death of his mom,” Kathleen Rinn Felcman said of her nephew, Mark Rinn, who was shot repeatedly Oct. 12 after the police allege he followed two young women to the Bristol police station and proceeded to ram their car with his.

Doris Rinn vanished from her Providence home Oct. 3, 2022, only to turn up two days later barefoot and wrapped in a blanket at a cafe in New Jersey. Doris, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, was hospitalized as Jane Doe and died three days later after being given a dose of psychiatric meds. She was 59.

The shooting incident has stunned family members, who learned only afterward that Mark Rinn had stopped taking his medications and was behaving strangely.

“Everything seemed fine. We had no clue,” said Annamarie Rinn, another aunt.

Rinn is diagnosed with schizophrenia and they learned that recently he had also been bullied at work, his brother, Chris, said.

Seeking a mental-health evaluation

The family was seeking to get Rinn a psychological evaluation while he remained in intensive care at Rhode Island Hospital. He lost his left eye, had a bullet lodged behind his nose and will undergo surgery on his left shoulder, which was also hit by a bullet.

He recently had a feeding tube removed and had eaten a popsicle, Felcman said Tuesday.

No one in the family has spoken with him or been able to see him because he remains in law-enforcement custody.

“He’s probably not even aware of what he did. It would make us feel better to be able to talk to him,” Felcman said.

Rinn is now being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions.

What surveillance footage shows

On Tuesday, Bristol Police Chief Kevin M. Lynch released surveillance footage of the shooting.

Mark Rinn, who grew up in Providence and lives in Rehoboth, has been charged with four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. He was arraigned Monday at the hospital and pleaded not guilty. He has been ordered not to contact the two Roger Williams University students he encountered at Colt State Park and then followed to the station.

The bail was set at $60,000 with surety, meaning Rinn and his family would need to come up with $6,000.

'He shot to kill'

Rinn’s family questions the level of force used in an incident involving a person they believe was so clearly experiencing a mental-health crisis. Rinn was naked behind the wheel as he appeared to accelerate and drive at the women’s vehicle, ramming it into the station, the police said.

“It’s not normal for someone to drive to a police station naked. Could there have been a different way around this? Why wasn’t the body camera on?” Felcman said.

Sgt. Paul Medeiros, who was on desk duty and did not have his body camera on, came out of the station to help the students. As Rinn continued to hit the women's car, the sergeant fired two shots at him, ending the attack, the police say.

"I can't see how the officer was in danger. I think it was an unnecessary shooting," his aunt Annamarie Rinn said. They wonder if the situation could have been de-escalated instead.

Wilmer A. Villon, Rinn’s father, is pointed in his views.

“They used unnecessary force. It’s just not right. He treated my son like an animal. He shot to kill,” Villon said.

Lynch declined to comment on the family’s concerns, saying via email only “The Bristol Police Department will have no further comment on the Mark Rinn incident.”

The case is being investigated by the Rhode Island State Police, Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office and the Bristol police in keeping with protocol for officer-involved use-of-force incidents.

Cold case: He was wrongly accused of killing a 10-year-old. Now his lawsuit can go to trial.

'He had a nervous breakdown'

According to the family, Rinn is a “sweet and kind” guy who has never been in trouble with the law and has had a police officer as a roommate for years.

“He’s not no criminal,” Villon said. “He had a nervous breakdown.”

He said his son had been hospitalized at one point for depression.

“He spent a lot of time with her. He’s hurt about his mother passing away,” Villon said.

Felcman described her nephew this week as happy, calm and generous, adding that as a mother she felt for the two young women, who must have been very scared.

“He just loved life. He never had any trouble. He was just so easy to get along with,” said Felcman, who is from Rhode Island but now lives in Bethlehem, Connecticut. The family lived together at points so she knows him very well and just days earlier he made plans to visit, she said.

"This is totally out of character. It's really hard because they're treating him like a criminal and they don't know him," Annamarie Rinn said.

His brother, Chris, said the family is devastated and emphasized that Rinn is a "good person" who never used illegal drugs or drank.

"He's a responsible man who works hard and cares for everyone. This is a tragedy and a shock to everyone who knows him," Chris Rinn said.

"We have a lot of questions about why a gun had to be used," he continued.

The family extends its prayers and thoughts to the two women involved, he said.

The family is trying to secure bail money. They reached out this week to the Office of the Mental Health Advocate.

Felcman worries, too, that Rinn spoke with the police while still unstable and that those statements will ultimately be used against him.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Mark Rinn was shot by Bristol police. Now, his family has questions