[M]IDDLEBURY – An Addison County father is accused of shooting and trying to kill his son, who was able to flee by crawling to a vehicle after he was struck in the back by a bullet.
Jeffrey Young, 49, pleaded not guilty Monday in Addison County Superior criminal court to the attempted murder charge as well as a slew of other offenses. He is being held without bail.
His 28-year-old son, Nicholas Young, was treated for a gunshot wound at Rutland Regional Medical Center and has since been released.
The two men had been arguing early Sunday morning through a locked door, with the father inside his home on South Hill Road in Goshen and the son outside trying to get in to retrieve keys for a vehicle and other items he had left there, according to statements made to police.
The son, moments before the shooting, had threatened to kick in the door if the father continued to refuse entry, Vermont State Police Detective Trooper Michael Notte wrote in an affidavit.
Jeffrey Young, when questioned by police, admitted to being inside the home and firing the weapon, a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun, while his son was outside yelling to come in, the detective wrote.
“Jeffrey opened the front door and saw Nicholas laying on the ground with two gunshot wounds on his back,” Notte wrote. “Jeffrey said he told his son he hoped he bleeds out.”
The detective added, “Jeffrey said he did not administer first aid because he did not see any blood.”
Nicholas Young was treated at Rutland Regional Medical Center for the wound, and later released, according to the affidavit. Police described the injury in court records as a “through and through gunshot wound” to Nicholas Young’s back.
Addison County State’s Attorney Dennis Wygmans said that the investigation into the shooting is ongoing, with authorities continuing to gather evidence.
The prosecutor contended that given the seriousness of the offense, Jeffrey Young should be held without bail pending a hearing on the strength of the evidence in the case.
Judge Helen Toor agreed, ordering Jeffrey Young held without bail pending a hearing next week.
Toor also told Jeffrey Young to not have contact with his son.
“No problem,” Jeffrey Young responded to the judge.
Attorney Peter Langrock, representing Jeffrey Young, defended his client’s actions.
“He was in his home and these people were trying to break in,” Langrock said outside the courtroom.
However, Jeffrey Young, his client, appeared to provide police with conflicting statements about the incident.
Police were called to the Goshen home around 3:15 a.m. Sunday.
Jeffrey Young, when questioned by police, told them that hours earlier, on Saturday evening, he went with his son and two other people to a cider and music festival in Middlebury.
After a few drinks, the father said he drove his son and the others to Burlington, dropped them off, and returned alone to his Goshen home.
Jeffrey Young told police he believed the others went to Burlington for a “drug transaction,” the affidavit stated.
Within an hour of arriving home, Notte wrote in the court filing, Jeffrey Young told police he saw headlights from a vehicle pulling into his driveway, followed by a knock at the door.
Nicholas Young told police that he and two of his friends had gotten a ride from Burlington to Goshen and wanted to pick up keys to a vehicle they had left behind at the residence, the affidavit stated.
Jeffrey Young said that his son tried to break into the house by smashing the door “so I just pulled the gun out and started shooting,” Notte wrote in the filing.
The father said that he knew he was firing through the door, adding, “yep, right through the door …. I knew who it was; I knew what I was doing,”
Nicholas Young said to police that when he knocked on the door his father told him to come back the next day, according to the affidavit.
“The next thing he remembered was being shot through the door or window,” Notte wrote. “Nicholas thought he was going to die after he was shot.”
Nicholas Young told police he then “crawled to a car” and left heading to Rutland and eventually the hospital after Jeffrey Young let one of the friends inside to retrieve the keys.
In a later statement, Jeffrey Young provided a different story, telling police he didn’t know it was his son at the door and thought someone was trying to break into his home.
“I questioned Jeffrey on his earlier statement when he said he knew who it was and he knew what he was doing,” Notte wrote. “Jeffrey said that was after the shooting.”
The detective wrote that he asked Jeffrey Young why he just didn’t call police if he thought someone was breaking into his home.
“He said it takes too long for police to respond,” the affidavit stated.
In addition to the attempted murder charge, Jeffrey Young faces charges of attempted voluntary manslaughter, aggravated domestic assault and two counts of reckless endangerment.
If convicted of all the charges, he faces up to life in prison.
