A Rutland man who died last week in a shootout with police and his cousin whose body was found in Salisbury the same day were both killed by gunshot wounds to the head, according to state records released Tuesday.
Christopher G. Louras, 33, was killed Tuesday after exchanging gunfire in downtown Rutland on the morning of Oct. 8 following a short pursuit in the Rutland Shopping Plaza parking lot, police said.
Louras, the son of former Rutland mayor Christopher Louras, died within seconds or minutes of suffering a gunshot wound to his head in the shootout, a death certificate filed Tuesday with the state Department of Health stated.
Other contributing factors to his death, the document stated, were gunshot wounds to his torso and extremities.
Four officers fired on Louras in the shootout in which he also shot at the officers, according to police. Earlier that morning, police said, Louras fired multiple times into the front entrance of the city’s police station before he was spotted about 90 minutes later and exchanged fire with the officers.
His cousin, Nicholas Louras, 34, of Rutland, suffered gunshot wounds to his head and neck and died within seconds, his death certificate filed Tuesday stated. The date, time and location of his death is listed as “October 2019/unknown,” according to the document.
Police have said the deaths are linked, but have stopped short of calling the younger Christopher Louras a suspect in his cousin’s death.
Vermont State Police have said they are not looking for any other suspects in Nicholas Louras’ death at this time, though the killing has called a homicide.
Nicholas Louras’ body was found by a passerby early on the afternoon of Oct. 8 on the edge of Route 53, also known as Lake Dunmore Road, in the Addison County town of Salisbury, about a 40-minute drive to Rutland.
Police have not said how the two deaths are linked, other than the familial relationship between the two.
Vermont State Police, the agency heading the investigation in both deaths, have not released any information in either case since Thursday.
Gov Phil Scott, speaking at his weekly press conference last Wednesday, said the deaths may be tied to drugs. State Police have not confirmed that, saying only that both cases remain under investigation.
