Investigations by the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Grand Isle County State’s Attorney’s Office found no wrongdoing by a Morristown police officer who shot at a man in the Lamoille County town in April, the agencies said.
Both offices conducted independent reviews of the incident, in which Officer Brian Tomlinson fired his gun at 24-year-old Henry Lovell after Lovell shot at him, according to a joint press release issued Tuesday.
Attorney General Charity Clark and Doug DiSabito, the Grand Isle state’s attorney, reviewed the incident on behalf of the Lamoille County State’s Attorney’s Office. They determined Tomlinson’s actions met the state’s standards for a justified use of force, mainly that an “objectively reasonable officer” would have fired the gun.
Lovell was not injured in the shootout and was arrested three days later in nearby Hyde Park after a multi-agency search that disrupted daily routines in the region.
“Officer Tomlinson reasonably believed that he and those around him were in imminent danger of being killed or suffering great bodily harm and was, therefore, justified in using deadly force to defend himself and others,” the release states.
Clark and DiSabito said Tomlinson did not activate his body-worn camera until after the shooting occurred. They said they corroborated the officer’s account through a Vermont State Police interview with a person whom Lovell was holding hostage and a 911 call that the person made before the shooting.
According to a timeline shared by officials, Tomlinson responded to a call from the person whom Lovell was holding hostage in the village of Morrisville at about 8:45 p.m. on April 20. Upon arriving at the scene, the officer observed Lovell holding a shotgun as he and the other person walked down a dark driveway together, the press release says.
Lovell then started to walk toward Tomlinson and refused orders to stop and drop his gun, officials said in the release. Tomlinson “went to grab his gun from its holster,” they said, at which point Lovell fired a round from his shotgun at the officer.
Tomlinson took cover behind a vehicle and fired back at Lovell, according to the release. Both men exchanged fire again as Lovell continued walking toward Tomlinson; meanwhile, during the shootout, the person with Lovell ran into a nearby house and locked the door.
At that point, Lovell fled to the nearby Veterans of Foreign Wars post, where a patron took Lovell’s gun away, officials wrote. Lovell then left the building unarmed, before leading law enforcement on the three-day chase.
Lovell was charged with one count each of attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, first-degree aggravated domestic assault, criminal threatening and violation of conditions of release — in addition to two counts of first-degree unlawful restraint.
Neither the hostage nor Tomlinson “appeared to have been physically injured as a result of this incident,” officials wrote. State police previously said Tomlinson was “struck by pellets fired from Lovell’s shotgun but did not sustain any penetrative injuries.”
