Updated at 9:27 p.m.
Vermont State Police arrested a Derby Line resident on Monday after evidence of gunfire was found in his apartment, “penetrating other apartments and several vehicles,” according to a state police press release.
No one was injured.
Alfred Charest, 38, was arrested outside the Caswell Avenue apartment building where the incident took place, police said. He faces charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and reckless endangerment.
Charest also has an active extraditable warrant for his arrest in New Hampshire on drug-related charges and faces a charge in Vermont of being a “fugitive from justice,” police said.
Police began receiving reports of gunfire at about 9:45 a.m. Monday at an apartment building near the intersection of Caswell Avenue and Ducharme Drive. Reports initially indicated multiple shooters and victims, according to the release.
A member of the state police Crisis Negotiation Unit tried unsuccessfully to make contact with people inside the building. Then, the first responding officers entered the building to search for victims. They evacuated apartments in the building and at another nearby building but did not find any victims, police said.
Police found “evidence consistent with gunfire” coming from Charest’s apartment but did not find any evidence of multiple shooters.
Charest is being held without bail Monday night at the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport. His arraignment is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 11, at the Vermont Superior Court in Newport.
The investigation is ongoing, police said, and anyone with information may call the Vermont State Police Derby Barracks at 802-334-8881 or submit an anonymous tip at vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.
