I wanted to follow-up with a couple of items that did not make it into last week’s story about new details from the investigation into the fatal shooting of a mentally ill man, Wayne Brunette, by police at his New North End home.
The records obtained from the Vermont Attorney General’s Office lay bare one of the most tragic aspects of the November 6 incident: Both of Brunette’s parents stood on the front steps of their home and witnessed police fatally shooting their son, who was refusing officers’ commands to drop a shovel. In fact, after summoning police to their home, Ruthine and Lawrence Brunette were the only two civilians to witness the entire incident, and their statements to investigators were apparently significant factors in the decision to clear officers Brent Navari and Ethan Thibault of criminal wrongdoing.
“They both started shooting, and I don’t know how many times they hit him, he went down,” Lawrence Brunette told investigators, according to the documents obtained by Seven Days.
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Good common sense, and personal thoughts by councilor Hartnett.