Updated 5:06 p.m.
ST. JOHNSBURY — Vermont State Police said an apparent robbery over illegal drugs turned deadly Monday night when a man wearing a mask tried to break into a St. Johnsbury apartment and was shot and killed by a person inside the residence who then fled the scene.
Capt. Jeremy Hill of the state police said during a Tuesday afternoon press briefing that he was still awaiting autopsy results from the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington before releasing the name of the man who was killed.
Hill said he expected that autopsy to take place Wednesday morning.
He also said the search of the shooter remains ongoing.
“We don’t know the exact circumstances but it does appear to be drug related,” Hill said of the shooting. In response to a question, he said that “initial information” indicated it was a case of an alleged drug dealer being robbed.
The death investigation began around 11:15 p.m. Monday following a 911 call reporting a shooting at a home at 340 Summer St., according to the release. St. Johnsbury police officers found a man deceased inside the residence on stairs in a common hallway leading to an apartment on the upper floor, the release stated.
St. Johnsbury police then requested that the state police lead the investigation.
“When we arrived (Tuesday) morning we learned that there was an apartment upstairs and there were several individuals in the apartment and they heard a knock on a door and they went to the door and a man wearing a mask forced his way into the apartment,” Hill said.
During a confrontation, Hill said, the masked man was shot by someone who was inside the apartment targeted by the robber, which was Apartment 3 in the multi-unit building.
“The male who was shot made it to the top of the stairs and then collapsed, falling down the stairs,” Hill said.
Before St. Johnsbury police arrived at the residence Monday night, everyone in the apartment had fled, Hill said. He said investigators were able to eventually track down the tenant leasing the apartment and that person “provided other names” of those who authorities are working to locate.
Hill said police have “some early information” on who may have carried out the shooting, but declined to release that name, adding, “it’s too early to say or confirm.”
