BRISTOL — Vermont State Police called to a domestic disturbance at a home on Lower Notch Road in Bristol Tuesday night shot a resident of that home who police say was armed.
VSP and a Bristol Police Department officer immediately rendered first aid to the man, identified as 28-year-old Greg West, and he was eventually transported by helicopter to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, where he underwent surgery for his wounds. As of 9 a.m. on Wednesday West was listed in “critical but stable condition.”
At about 9:50 p.m. on Tuesday a relative of West made a 911 call and reported that West was intoxicated, threatening and had damaged the home, according to a press release VSP issued on Wednesday. The caller also reported that West had a shotgun and that there were “several children” inside the home.
Two state police troopers and the Bristol officer responded to the home, where they found West, armed with a shotgun, on the steep driveway between the house and the road, according to police.
The officers spoke to West, trying to de-escalate the situation, according to police. They offered to get help for him and encouraged him to put down the shotgun.
“West ultimately refused to drop the shotgun, and the two troopers fired multiple rounds from their patrol rifles, striking West multiple times,” the press release said.
The case remains under investigation.
Vermont State Police officials are withholding the names of the troopers during the initial stages of that investigation, in accordance with policy. The troopers will be placed on paid administrative leave for a minimum of five days, after which they will return to administrative duty while the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Addison County State’s Attorney’s Office investigate the use of force.
“Detectives with the Vermont State Police Major Crime Unit and Bureau of Criminal Investigations, joined by members of the Crime Scene Search Team and Field Force Division, are continuing to investigate the incident, from the domestic violence that is alleged to have occurred prior to police involvement through the circumstances surrounding the officer-involved shooting,” the press release said.
Investigators ask that anyone who might have information about this incident contact VSP at the New Haven Barracks at (802) 388-4919.
The shooting came one day after police were called to a home two miles east, on Upper Notch Road, to investigate what they now believe was a murder-suicide. In that incident, according to police, a longtime Bristol resident shot his wife to death, then turned the gun on himself.
Reach Christopher Ross at [email protected].