Two Burlington police officers have been cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a New North End resident with a history of mental illness who threatened them with a shovel last month.
At a press conference this afternoon, Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan and Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell announced that Cpl. Ethan Thibault was justified in his use of deadly force against 49-year-old Wayne Brunette. Based on a separate investigation by his department, Burlington Police Chief Mike Schirling said that neither Thibault nor Cpl. Brent Navari had violated departmental protocol.
After laying out those findings, the law enforcement officials expressed their condolences to Brunette’s family and acknowledged the need to improve police responses to incidents where mental illness may play a role.
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