The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has concluded that a Woodstock police officer was justified when he took shots at a local man who later killed himself in a June 14 incident that left the town on lockdown for hours.
Woodstock Sgt. Joseph Swanson fired his gun at Jay Wilson, 45, after responding to multiple 911 calls about a shooting at a Slayton Terrace home owned by Wilson’s mother, June, according to a review released Tuesday.
Wilson had called police to say he had defended himself after a man had wrestled him to the ground outside the residence, authorities said. A neighbor phoned soon after to report that Wilson had shot a man, spurring dispatch to note that Wilson was involved in another 911 incident the day before.
Swanson, the first law enforcement officer to arrive, saw Dieter Seier — a 67-year-old friend of Wilson’s mother — lying face down in the driveway, authorities said. Approaching Seier to help, the sergeant noticed a gunshot wound to the man’s back.
Wilson then came out of the house, pointed a pistol at Swanson and began firing, authorities said.
“Sergeant Swanson was fully exposed in the driveway while Mr. Wilson had the advantage of being on higher ground and familiar with the area,” the findings stated.
Swanson fired back as one of Wilson’s bullets grazed the sergeant’s arm, authorities said. Wilson, who had not been struck by any of Swanson’s bullets, then retreated into the residence as other local and state officers arrived.
Authorities thought it was possible that Wilson had exited the house, leading them to issue a local shelter-in-place order.
Police tried unsuccessfully to call Wilson to ask him to surrender. After obtaining a search warrant, officers entered the house and heard a gunshot. They subsequently found Wilson dead from an apparent self-inflicted wound, authorities said.
“Sergeant Swanson’s return fire was necessary to address the lethal threat that Mr. Wilson presented to him,” the Attorney General’s Office stated in the press release. “Under the totality of the circumstances during and leading up to the discharge of Sergeant Swanson’s firearm, there was no alternative but using deadly force to prevent his own death or serious bodily, or that of neighbors standing nearby.”
As a result, the state won’t bring charges against the officer.
The Grand Isle County State’s Attorney’s Office said it made the same determination in its own review, which came after the Windsor County State’s Attorney’s Office recused itself.
Speaking to the press the day after the shooting, police said Wilson had been arguing with his mother over money, leading her friend to show up to offer support. Seier, of Cornish, New Hampshire, was shot and killed by Wilson during the confrontation.