Police face barrage of questions but provide few answers about shooting by Williston officer

WILLISTON — Questions linger after authorities say a Williston police officer shot and injured a man early Thursday. A press conference by police Thursday afternoon revealed little about what led the officer to shoot the man. 

Police say the matter remains under investigation. 

The man was treated at the University of Vermont Medical Center for a gunshot wound to his hip, Maj. Ashley Barnes, commander of the state police criminal division, told reporters at the press conference. The man has since been released from the hospital, Barnes added.

State police, the agency heading the investigation into the shooting, have not released the man’s name.

The Williston police officer who fired his handgun was evaluated for a minor injury at the hospital and has since been released, Barnes said.

The name of that officer who police investigators say fired on the man has not yet been released either. State police protocol is to withhold the name of an officer involved in a shooting for 24 hours. Williston police said the officer has been put on paid administrative leave. 

When the investigation is complete, the Vermont State Police will turn over the case to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the State’s Attorney’s Office for independent reviews of the police officer’s use of force.

Williston officers had responded to a report around 4:50 a.m. Thursday for a road hazard on Route 2A between Butternut Road and Old Creamery Road, Barnes told reporters Thursday. A state police press release issued moments before the press conference stated that that hazard was reported to be downed wires across Route 2A.  

A man driving a car then came upon that scene, police said. 

“A vehicle approached officers, and we’re not exactly sure yet what occurred during that,” Barnes said. “Something led to one of the Williston officers discharging his duty weapon, striking the male.”

Barnes said exactly what took place remains under investigation, declining to elaborate more on what exchanges, if any, may have taken place between the officer and the man who was shot.

Asked if the officer was in danger, Barnes replied, “I don’t know that at this point. We’re going to have to review body cam  and cruiser cam footage.”

He said “some of that footage” has been reviewed by investigators. Asked if police would release that footage, Barnes responded that it would not be released at this time since the matter remains under investigation.

Williston Police Chief Brian Labarge, who also spoke at the press conference Thursday, would not say how many officers from his department had been on the scene at the time of the shooting. 

“Officers were on scene,” he told reporters, refusing to provide a more specific number. The police chief did say that two officers have been placed on paid administrative leave. What role, if any, the other officer played in the incident was not clear.

Larbage wouldn’t say what injuries the officer sustained, or how they may have occurred.

“I’m not confirming at this time who any of the officers or individuals were,” Labarge told reporters. 

A portion of Route 2A near where the shooting occurred was closed to traffic for much of Thursday as detectives investigated and members of the state police processed the scene. It reopened to traffic around 4 p.m. Thursday.

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