A service gun stolen from the house of retired EG Police Capt. Bill Higgins in November 2012 was used in a homicide, North Providence police said Tuesday.

Dari Garcia is accused of the shooting death of Richard Catalano, 26, during a home invasion on Eliot Avenue in North Providence in August. Catalano’s mother was also shot during the incident. The gun was found at the scene.

“We got the report back from the state crime lab, they were able to restore the numbers on the firearm. Upon checking the computer system, we discovered that the firearm was stolen in 2012 out of East Greenwich,” North Providence Police Captain Daniel Cennamo told WPRI. “We contacted East Greenwich, they confirmed it was stolen, it was in reference to a B&E that occurred in their community.”

EG Deputy Chief Skip Cirella said Tuesday evening they had not yet heard from North Providence police about the gun so he could not confirm it was the same weapon.

In November 2012, East Greenwich retired police captain Bill Higgins reported that his service gun was stolen fro his Greenwich Boulevard house during a house break. Higgins had been allowed to buy the weapon, a SigSauer P220 .45 caliber handgun, at a prorated amount, as per EGPD policy.

The break in was one of three that happened in the vicinity that same week. The others took place on Eugene Street and Howland Drive.