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May 19, 2008

Shooting victim: Firefighter, mayoral aide, Sox fan

CRANSTON -- Former mayor Michael A. Traficante said he couldn't believe it when he heard it.

James A. Pagano -- a man who had been an aide to Traficante for a few years, who came from a large Cranston family and left a wife and two children -- was shot dead yesterday, according to police, in a neighborhood where roads bear names like Daisy Court and Lily Court.

Next-door neighbor Nicholas Gianquitti, who served briefly as a Providence police officer, is charged with murder.

"This hits hard," Traficante said today.

Traficante, now the Cranston School Committee chairman, said Pagano was "a very bright young man, a guy who was very enthusiastic about getting the job done, very dependable."

Paul Valletta Jr., the local firefighters union president, said of Pagano: "We're a family here, and all families have their spats sometimes. But he never got in a spat with anyone."

Firefighters with whom Pagano worked at Station 3 on Cranston Street said he was a well-liked, happy-go-lucky guy, a big Red Sox fan who would watch games at the fire house.

And Pagano made his opinions known during games when something happened on the field -- Valletta recalled humorously that sometimes he thought the Sox could hear Pagano through the television set.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer David Scharfenberg

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 1:14 PM | Permalink

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janet | May 20, 2008 7:09 AM link

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