A man was shot and killed by a Vermont state trooper outside a home in Orange on Wednesday, police said.
State police said they are investigating.
The man was shot around 1:25 p.m. and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
State police said a trooper based at their Berlin Barracks responded to a call for a welfare check in a matter related to a juvenile on Spencer Road in Orange when he encountered a man who appeared to be unconscious sitting in the driver's seat of a vehicle. Suspecting drug use, the trooper called dispatch and asked that rescue crews be sent to the scnee for a possible overdose. The trooper also observed a sawed-off shotgun in the vehicle near the man.
The trooper tried to speak with the man, and he regained consciousness. After repeated commands from the trooper, the man eventually exited the vehicle. A struggle then ensued between the man and the trooper as the trooper was attempting to secure the shotgun from within the vehicle.
During that struggle, the trooper discharged his gun, striking and killing the man, police said.
Police identified the man who was killed as 41-year-old Jason Lowery, who they said lived most recently in various locations in central Vermont.
An autopsy completed late Thursday afternoon at the state medical examiner's office in Burlington determined the cause of Lowery’s death was gunshot wounds to the neck and torso, and the manner of death was homicide.
The trooper involved was not injured but was taken to a hospital for an evaluation as a precaution, police said. State police said Thursday that the trooper involved was Adam Roaldi. He has been a member of the Vermont State Police since 2019 and has served as a uniformed trooper in the Field Force Division at the Royalton, Middlesex and Berlin barracks. He has worked from the Berlin office since September 2023.
Roaldi has been placed on "paid relief-from duty status," per standard procedure.
The Associated Press contribued to this report.
