A Burlington man was charged with attempted homicide after allegedly shooting a woman in the leg in her own home, fleeing in a car that crashed into trees, and then flashing a gun inside the crashed car, police said.
Police were called Friday just after 2 in the morning about gunfire at a Walnut Street residence.
There, officers found a woman with a gunshot wound in her leg. They quickly applied a tourniquet, called for medical assistance, and got a description of the man who had shot her.
Neighbors told police they’d seen the man running away from the house with a gun in his hand.
The woman was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center, where police said she was in stable condition on Friday.
Police said they spotted the suspect, later identified as Zakaria Hassan, 31, of Burlington, inside a nearby vehicle. They said they chased the vehicle as it headed to Riverside Avenue, where the vehicle crashed, slammed into trees, and rolled over across from the Burlington sewage treatment plant.
Police said they approached the vehicle with weapons drawn and reported that, despite repeated commands, Hassan refused to stop moving or to show his hands and at one point was holding a gun inside the vehicle. However, police did not report any threats or movements toward the officers.
Eventually, Hassan got out of the vehicle but remained uncooperative, to the point where police used a taser to subdue him. Police said they recovered a gun that was in his possession.
In a medical evaluation, Hassan was cleared and then taken to the police station for questioning. There, he told police he was experiencing a “medical event.” He was taken to the UVM Medical Center for further evaluation, then returned to the police station, where he was held, awaiting a court appearance.
Acting Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad praised the “professionalism and restraint” of the officers involved in the case.
“They faced a noncompliant suspect who had allegedly shot someone, crashed a car while fleeing police, and then brandished a firearm even as officers surrounded him at gunpoint,” Murad said. “In the midst of that, they displayed professionalism and restraint and did the work our neighbors expect of us.”
Burlington police ask that anyone with information about the case call the department at 802-658-2704.