A Vermont state trooper has been ruled justified in using deadly force against a Brattleboro man last month.
Trooper Christopher Brown shot and wounded Robert Smallridge during a confrontation in Fayston in September.
Attorney General Bill Sorrell and Washington County State’s Attorney Scott Williams separately reviewed the shooting and determined that Brown was legally justified to use deadly force.
Both reviews found that Brown was “reasonable in his belief that he was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury,” according to a news release from the Attorney General’s Office on Monday.
Brown responded to a call from a resident of Fayston, who said that his girlfriend’s ex-husband, Smallridge, was on the property and refused to leave.
When Brown arrived at the scene, Smallridge was holding a can of beer and was “uncooperative.” Eventually, Smallridge went into the entrance to the house and returned holding something that appeared to Brown to be a rifle.
Brown reportedly ordered Smallridge to drop the item, which was later discovered to be an 18-inch-long pellet rifle with a cut-off stock and barrel. When Smallridge ignored the order, Brown fired his gun at him.
Smallridge then went back inside the house, then came out and returned to his can of beer, ignoring Brown’s directions to get on the ground. Brown then used his Taser on Smallridge, at which point Smallridge fell to the ground.
After Brown handcuffed the Bennington man, he discovered that a bullet had struck Smallridge in the thigh.
The report from the Attorney General’s Office said that there was “evidence that Smallridge was suicidal, and that he was seeking a confrontation with police.”
