The family of an unarmed Putney man who was shot and killed by a Vermont state trooper last year is suing the state, alleging the incident violated the man’s civil rights.
Scott Garvey, 55, was shot and killed in his home by Vermont State Police Trooper Peter Romeo while he was experiencing a mental health crisis on July 7, 2025. His family announced Monday they are filing a civil lawsuit against the state, trooper Romeo and other state police officers.
Their lawsuit comes less than a week after Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark declined to prosecute Romeo for killing Garvey. In a press statement last week, Clark said officers had a legal basis to use lethal force.
The Garvey family’s 19-page lawsuit reviewed by VTDigger alleges the state and its police officers violated Garvey’s rights under the U.S. Constitution and the state constitution, including Garvey’s protections against unreasonable search and seizure and his right to due process. The lawsuit also alleges that officers violated The Americans with Disabilities Act and acted with negligence.
“We would have preferred to work with the State of Vermont on reforming the system so that this does not happen to another family,” said Shawn Garvey, Scott’s brother, in a statement to media.
“But after nearly a year, the message from the State has been clear: no accountability, no meaningful explanation, no reform, and no apparent willingness to examine what went wrong,” Shawn said.
Romeo shot and killed Garvey when police entered the man’s house with a warrant and Garvey pointed an object at officers. That object was not a gun— his family says it was Garvey’s cane.
Before entering the man’s house, police spent more than four hours talking to Garvey through his front door. Officers responded that morning after neighbors witnessed a man banging on the windows to their house, saying he heard voices that told him to kill everyone.
The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has not yet been served with any legal filing from the Garvey family, according to Lauren Jandl, the office’s chief of staff.
Along with trooper Romeo, the family is suing a number of other state police officers including supervising officers, managers and policymaking employees for the state police. Those defendants are not named in the filing.
“We do not comment on pending litigation,” Adam Silverman, a spokesperson for the Vermont State Police, wrote in an email when asked about the suit.
Details released last week by the attorney general’s office shed light on the events that transpired the day troopers shot and killed Garvey
That morning, officers responded to Garvey’s house after a neighbor called to report that a man was banging on their windows and “stating that the voices are telling him to kill everyone,” according to the release.
Police were told that Garvey had a history of schizophrenia. Officers and a mental health clinician spoke to Garvey through his door, and Garvey declined to let officers into his house. At one point during their conversation, Garvey indicated he had a firearm.
After more than four hours at the scene, police were granted a warrant to enter Garvey’s house. They were also granted a warrant to have Garvey evaluated for involuntary mental health treatment.
Upon entering, officers encountered a barricade and saw that Garvey was holding an object. Trooper Romeo told a sergeant multiple times that he did not know what Garvey was holding and ordered him to drop it.
When Garvey raised the object and pointed it toward officers, Romeo fired seven shots and hit the man three times.
The Garvey family alleges Romeo’s use of deadly force “was excessive and objectively unreasonable under the totality of the circumstances,” the lawsuit states. The family also alleges that officers disregarded Garvey’s medical needs and failed to provide him timely treatment, causing him greater harm.
Forty-nine people have been shot by state police in Vermont since 1977, when the state began keeping track. No state police officers have ever been criminally prosecuted for their use of force, according to Vermont State Police data.
“We are not asking Vermont to pretend every police shooting is unlawful,” Shawn said in his Monday statement. “We are asking the Vermont State Police to stop pretending every police shooting is unavoidable. Those are not the same thing.”
