[T]he Vermont State Police trooper who shot and wounded a suspect in Rockingham last month will not face criminal charges, Attorney General TJ Donovan announced Friday.
Donovan and Windham County State’s Attorney Tracy Shriver declined to prosecute Sgt. Eugene Duplissis related to the shooting of John-Victor Wetherby, after an hours-long manhunt in early March.
It’s the second time in two years Duplissis was named in an officer-involved shooting.
Police had been searching for Wetherby, 33, on March 8 because of his role in an alleged aggravated assault in Bellows Falls.
After Wetherby fled the scene of the assault, police attempted to find him in Bellows Falls, eventually tracking him to a vacant home he had broken into in Rockingham, police said at the time.
Duplissis, a member of the Vermont State Police tactical services unit, responded to the house, finding Wetherby had armed himself with an antique double-barreled shotgun. Police say Wetherby cocked the firearm, later found to be unloaded, as authorities approached and pointed it at a trooper.
Duplissis reportedly fired his gun at Wetherby, who sustained a “single graze-type wound.” He was treated for his injury and immediately held in custody. Charges against Wetherby, related to the incident, are still pending, according to the attorney general.
Donovan’s office decided not to file charges against Duplissis after reviewing an investigation into the shooting conducted by Vermont State Police.
According to the attorney general’s announcement, the Windham County state’s attorney also declined to prosecute Duplissis after completing an independent review of the situation.
This is the second time Duplissis has been named in an officer-involved shooting in just over a year. Duplissis, who joined the state police in 2001, was one of nine officers who fired on and killed a bank robbery suspect near Montpelier High School last year.
None of the officers involved in that shooting were charged.
Neither the state’s attorney’s office nor the attorney general’s office will comment further about the decision, according to the release.
The Vermont State Police did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the decision Friday evening.
In March, state police spokesperson Adam Silverman said that Duplissis’ involvement in the Montpelier shooting would be considered as part of the review into the Rockingham shooting. He noted that members of the tactical services unit tend to be in situations involving armed suspects more frequently.
“Speaking generally, it’s important to note that members of the Tactical Services Unit face a greater potential than other members of the Vermont State Police of having to engage armed, dangerous suspects – because these are the exact types of calls that the TSU is designed and dispatched to handle,” he wrote in an email.
