Vermont State Police have released the names of the two troopers who were involved in a reported shootout Sunday night with a Rhode Island man in Burke that left the man wounded.
Both Sgt. Joshua Mikkola and Trooper Richard Berlandy are assigned to the Derby state police barracks, according to a state police press release issued Tuesday. Neither were injured in the incident, according to state police.
Maj. Dan Trudeau, head of the state police criminal division, said at a press conference Monday afternoon that the investigation into whether bullets from just one of the troopers, or both, struck Brenden Sackal remained ongoing.
State police reported Monday that Sackal was in critical but stable condition, with non-life-threatening injuries at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H.
An update on Sackal’s condition was not immediately available early Tuesday afternoon. State police have not said how many times he was shot, citing the ongoing investigation.
Sackal, according to Trudeau, had opened fire on the troopers after a police pursuit Sunday night through northern New Hampshire and northern Vermont that ended with Sackal’s truck colliding with two cruisers before crashing.
Sackal then got out of his Chevrolet S-10 pickup and shot at the troopers and they returned fire, according to Trudeau.
Sackal, Trudeau said, had driven about 30 miles into Burke on flat tires and the wheels’ rims after spike strips had been used earlier in the pursuit.
Both troopers who fired their weapons at Sackal have worked out of the Derby barracks since their start with the state police, with Mikkola joining the force in 2016 and Berlandy in 2019. Mikkola had been promoted to sergeant in 2021, according to state police.
They have both been placed on paid leave as per standard protocol following a police shooting.
Sackal, 30, of Hopkinton, R.I., had been wanted by authorities in that state on charges related to the possession of illegal high-capacity firearm magazines, according to an earlier Vermont State Police press release.
Police said law enforcement had conducted a search of his residence Friday in Rhode Island but were not able to find him.
The Providence Journal, in a story on its website Tuesday, reported that Hopkinton Police Chief Mark Carrier said what the police found in Sackal’s home was “very alarming.”
Inside the home, the article stated, police found several guns, ammunition, high capacity magazines and a Kevlar vest and Kevlar helmet.
Police had searched Sackal’s home, according to the article, after a bullet was found in the air-conditioning unit in a neighbor’s residence.
Three of the guns found inside Sackal’s residence were untraceable because they didn’t have serial numbers and police also found a stolen police radio and evidence that he was making guns and “stockpiling” ammunition, the news report stated.
Trudeau, of the Vermont State Police, said Monday that investigators were still working to determine how many shots were fired in the incident.
Referring to the Vermont shooting, Carrier reportedly told the Providence Journal of Sackal, “It’s my understanding he came out hot,” adding, “It was one hell of a firefight.”
According to Vermont State Police, the investigation remains ongoing and authorities are working with county, state and federal prosecutors on the case.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Troopers identified in Burke shooting that wounded Rhode Island man following chase.