ORANGE, Vt. (WCAX) – Police have not yet released the names of a Vermont trooper or the man who was killed in an officer-involved shooting in Orange on Wednesday.
Per standard protocol, state police release the name of any trooper involved in a shooting the day after the incident. We are expecting that update on Thursday evening.
The shooting happened around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at a home off Spencer Road. Vermont State Police say the trooper was conducting a welfare check when he encountered a man who appeared unconscious in a car.
Police say when the trooper woke the man up and got him out of the car, the two began struggling over a sawed-off shotgun found in the car. They say that’s when the trooper fired his service weapon several times, hitting and killing the man.
The victim has tentatively been identified as a man in his 40s from Central Vermont.
Police say the case will be handed over to the attorney general’s office and the county prosecutor for independent reviews of the use of force.
The trooper has been placed on paid relief from duty pending the investigation.