This story was updated at 11:22 a.m. on March 10.
A Bellows Falls man wanted on accusations of aggravated assault was hospitalized after he was shot by a Vermont State Police trooper early Saturday morning.
John-Victor Wetherby, 33, sustained a “graze-type wound” in the confrontation with police that involved a trooper firing his weapon, according to a statement from Vermont State Police spokesperson Adam Silverman.
Wetherby was treated for his injuries at Springfield Hospital and was subsequently arrested for aggravated assault and violation of probation. He is being held without bail at Southern State Correctional Facility, and is expected to be charged in court early this week.
The trooper involved with the shooting has not been publicly identified. The identity is being withheld at this time “as is standard practice,” according to Silverman. The shooting is under investigation by two branches of the Vermont State Police.
Police were searching for Wetherby, 33, Friday after a warrant was issued for his arrest Wetherby was identified as a suspect in an aggravated assault in Bellows Falls Friday afternoon, from which he reportedly fled on foot. He was also wanted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and probation violation.
The shooting occurred shortly after midnight after police, with the aid of canine units, tracked Wetherby to a vacant house on Cota Heights Road in Rockingham. When police found Wetherby in a bedroom in the home, he pointed a firearm at a trooper. That trooper then “discharged his service weapon multiple times,” according to police
Wetherby sustained “a single graze-type wound,” for which he received medical treatment.
Police continue to investigate details of the encounter, including how many shots the trooper fired.
Both the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Windham County State’s Attorney will review the investigation into the trooper’s use of force. The trooper is now on paid administrative leave for at least five days, according to Silverman. When the trooper returns to work, it will be on administrative duty.
Other members of the Vermont State Police and members of the Bellows Falls Police Department were at the scene at the time of the shooting. No other individuals were injured.
