A St. Johnsbury man was shot by a Vermont State Police Officer, in the parking lot of a school. It happened Tuesday night and while the man was last listed in stable condition, the news of the bizarre events has many in the usually quiet town talking.
"That he had a bomb, a handgun, and people were going to die tonight," said Vermont State Police Director, Colonel Tom L'Esperance.
That is what Danville firefighters say they heard over the town's radio frequency, late Tuesday night as they cleaned up a car crash near Route 2 in Danville.
"A visit from state police at a quarter of six this morning. They were actually looking for the house that the gentleman broke into," said Curtis Larabee. He lives across the street from where police say, 36 year old William J. Mahoney, crashed a stolen vehicle, and broke into a nearby house.
"This guy is on the loose, lock your doors because he is considered dangerous," Larabee, retells what police tell neighbors.
Police knew they had a serious situation on their hands, "To break into homes in the middle of the night, and decide to get on the radio and say they have a weapon, they have a bomb, they want to kill people," said Colonel L'Esperance.
But that was just beginning, police found Mahoney in the Danville school parking lot, hiding inside a bus. That's when police fired five times, hitting him once.
"This was a situation where a trooper felt threatened, like his life could be taken and the potential for serious bodily harm, so that's why it quickly rises to the level where a shot is fired," said Colonel L'Esperance.
"I don't blame the cop," said James Roy, who has lived in Danville 83 years, he says it's a trusting town and an incident like this, doesn't have him concerned," I have never locked my doors and In fact they aren't locked now."
Police say that Mahoney was currently being sought out by the Vermont Probation and Parole Agency as an escape and the agency had even been to his house earlier in the day looking for him. Police say he's had a long run in with the law; including assaults, assaults on police officers, and DUI's.
