A Vermont State Police cruiser. Photo courtesy of Vermont State Police
Vermont State Police said the trooper who shot and killed a man in Orange on Wednesday afternoon was in a struggle with the man to secure sawed-off shotgun.
The name of the man who was killed is expected to be made public on Thursday following an autopsy at the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington to confirm his identity and determine his cause and manner of death, according to a press release issued late Wednesday night from Vermont State Police.
The release described the man as a resident of central Vermont in his early 40s.
The name of the trooper who shot and killed the man is also expected to be made public on Thursday, state police said in the release.
An initial investigation by state police said the trooper, based at the Berlin barracks, was called on to conduct a welfare check on Spencer Road in Orange. When he arrived, he saw a man who appeared to be unconscious in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, the release stated.
“The trooper suspected drug use, called dispatch and requested rescue crews respond for a possible overdose,” according to the release. “The trooper also observed a sawed-off shotgun in the vehicle near the man.”
The trooper tried to speak to the man, who had regained consciousness, the release said, and the trooper repeatedly ordered the man to get out of the vehicle, which he eventually did.
“A struggle then occurred between the man and the trooper while the trooper was attempting to secure the shotgun from within the vehicle,” the release stated. “During the struggle, the trooper discharged his department-issued firearm, striking the man.”
The trooper has been placed on paid leave, according to the release, per standard procedure following a police shooting.
When the state police investigation into the shooting is complete, the case will be turned over to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Orange County State’s Attorney’s Office for independent reviews of the use of lethal force, according to the release.
Read the story on VTDigger here: State police say struggle over shotgun preceded fatal police shooting in Orange.