By VINAYA SAKSENA

CENTRAL FALLS — Police are having little difficulty enforcing the curfew imposed last week after two fatal shootings rocked the Square Mile City. However, police have yet to identify a suspect in the murder of one of the teens killed on consecutive days over the last weekend in April.

Mayor Charles Moreau announced April 29 that the City Council had approved an ordinance instituting a 9 p.m. curfew for youths under 18, forbidding them from being on city streets after that hour without adult supervision. A week later, Col. Joseph Moran, the city’s police chief, said enforcement was going smoothly.
“No problems with that,” the colonel said. “We’ve got a zero tolerance policy in the city. Nobody gets any breaks.”
Moran said no suspects had been named in the shooting of Central Falls High School student Edelmiro Roman. It was speculated that Roman may have been shot in retaliation for the attack on Helder Tomar of Pawtucket, who was allegedly shot and killed by Anthony Strobert of Central Falls.
In any event, the State Police recently issued information identifying the suspect in a shooting on Dexter Street the previous week.
In that incident, a shot reportedly missed its intended target, who was riding a bicycle, and struck a nearby building. In a detailed entry on the Web site rimostwanted.org, the state police identified the suspect as 19-year-old Octavio J. Duarte.
According to the information released by the State Police, Duarte is a black male, approximately 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 175 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and two tattoos: a MOB tattoo on his right arm, which also has a scar, and RIP on his left arm. Duarte, who is apparently also known as “JR” or “J,” is considered armed and dangerous.
According to a previous Times report, an Octavio Duarte of North Providence was arrested in October following a police response to a reported shooting.
While police found no evidence that shots were fired, they reported arresting Duarte on a District Court warrant for failure to appear on an alcohol-related charge.
Police said last week that the Dexter Street shooting was not believed connected to the two shootings that occurred the following weekend. The suspect in the Dexter Street shooting was believed to have been in a “silver or light blue” Chrysler Pacifica.
Meanwhile, an event was held at Calcutt Middle School Tuesday night to address problems of violence in the city. According to Angelo Garcia of Channel One, the program was to feature educational speeches on the subject, as well as recreational activities for students and other residents in need of an opportunity to relieve stress after last week’s shootings.
Moran said his department had stepped up patrols to enforce the curfew ordinance, focusing on areas of the city that he said had been problematic in the past. However, he said that residents seemed to be taking well to the curfew so far, which he said did not surprise him.
“Everybody knows we’re not taking any bull,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to find that (compliance issues) yet. We might see that later.”