The Cavendish man shot in the head by a police officer following a pursuit in Ludlow last month has died.
Michael P. Mills was hospitalized at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire following the Aug. 15 shooting, according to Vermont State Police. An obituary published Tuesday on Legacy.com indicated he died 10 days later, on Aug. 25.
“Michael had a lot to offer the world,” the obituary reads. “Taken from us too young, he will forever be in our hearts. He is at peace at long last.”
State police, who are investigating the shooting, last issued an update on the case on Aug. 23, when they said Mills remained hospitalized.
Capt. Scott Dunlap, commander of the Vermont State Police Major Crime Unit, confirmed Tuesday that Mills had died. Asked why state police had not released information about Mills’ death earlier, Dunlap said state police had been busy with several other major crimes as well as other police shooting investigations that occurred in close proximity to one another.
He said a discrepancy in Mills’ age — police had said he was 35, but the obituary identified him as 36 — stemmed from Mills’ birthday shortly after the shooting.
He said state police would send an updated press release on Tuesday.
Once the state police investigation into the fatal shooting is done, Dunlap said, the case will be turned over to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Orange County State’s Attorney’s Office for independent reviews of the police use of force.
The Windsor County State’s Attorney’s Office has recused itself from the case.
Zachary Paul, the Ludlow police officer who shot Mills, had graduated from the Vermont Police Academy a month before the shooting took place. Paul, 21, was on patrol with another officer as part of his ongoing training with the Ludlow Police Department at the time of the shooting.
It took place after a police chase in Ludlow during which Mills rammed his vehicle into a cruiser occupied by Paul and his field training officer, Sgt. Jeffrey Warfle.
Mills had repeatedly made 911 calls in the hours before the shooting that included complaints, threats and suicidal statements, according to state police.
Mills eventually crashed his car into a tree on South Hill Road in Ludlow, state police said, and Warfle approached the vehicle and opened the front passenger door before yelling “gun” several times.
Paul then fired a single round from his handgun, striking Mills in the head, according to state police.
State police said they recovered a handgun from Mills’ vehicle, but did not say where the firearm was located or whether Mills had pointed it at the officer.
“Mills did not appear to have fired a round during the encounter, but a subsequent examination of the gun indicated that it might have malfunctioned,” state police said in the release.
