ORANGE, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont State Police held a brief presser to share updates on the officer-involved shooting in Orange earlier today.
It happened on Spencer Road just before 1:30 p.m.
State police say a trooper from the Berlin Barracks was conducting a welfare check there when he found a man unconscious in the driver’s seat of a car parked in the driveway and suspected him of using drugs.
Police say the trooper requested rescue crews respond for a possible overdose and was trying to wake the man up when he noticed there was a sawed-off shotgun in the car.
police say the man regained consciousness and the trooper ordered him to get out of the car. The man complied and exited the vehicle, and the trooper tried to take the gun.
It was at this point when the man started resisting and a scuffle ensued that ended with the trooper shooting the man several times.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His name is not being released at this time.
“The male is preliminarily identified as a 40-year-old male, or, in his early 40s from central Vermont. We’ll have confirmation after the autopsy at the medical examiner’s office… Right now, we’re really early in the investigation, we still have a ways to go. As soon as information becomes available we’ll put it out,” said VSP Capt. Jeremy Hill.
The trooper involved in this incident has been placed on paid leave and his identity will be released in the next 24 hours.