Deepest thanks are extended to all of the members of the local and state police departments, as well as members of the Addison County Sheriff’s Department, who responded to the incident at a residence on Seymour Street in Middlebury last Friday, June 30. 

We as a community tragically take for granted all of our emergency services, police, ambulance and fire. We forget how these individuals are willing to risk their lives in order to protect and save ours. The incident last Friday, which involved gunfire, thankfully ended without injury to anyone including the individual who was responsible. Each and every law enforcement officer displayed professionalism, dedication to duty, courage, stamina and endurance during this event that went on for over several hours. 

We, as a society, must come to the realization that mental illness is something that all of the our law enforcement and ambulance agencies are having to deal with on a regular basis. Tragically, the law enforcement and ambulance agencies are not academically trained to deal with the myriad of people suffering from mental illnesses. As a town, state and nation we MUST address this extremely serious problem before an incident becomes a fatality.

Kevin Parizo

Middlebury