Police: Robbery suspect killed by officers on school grounds

A suspect who had just tried to rob a credit union across the street from the high school in Vermont’s capital city was shot and killed Tuesday by police officers on the school grounds, city and state police said.

In video of the shooting posted by local television station WCAX, the suspect can be seen standing at the edge of the athletic fields several hundred yards away from the school building before he falls to the ground. Multiple shots can be heard.

Before he was shot, the suspect can be seen holding a handgun in his right hand, but it was pointed at the ground. After the shooting the suspect can be seen moving on the ground as police and rescue personnel tend to him.

Montpelier Police Chief Anthony Facos said later at a City Hall news conference attended by the commander of the Vermont State Police and the city school superintendent that the suspect was deceased.

No officers were injured.

“We are treating this as an officer-involved shooting,” said Vermont State Police Col. Matthew Birmingham.

Officials provided no additional details of the shooting. It was being investigated by the state police major crimes unit.

Credit Union spokeswoman Rachel Feldman told the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus it was the first robbery in the history of the institution. The suspect fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Cash was left on the floor of the credit union, which was closed pending the police investigation.

At least four bullet casings were seen behind a snowbank about 250 feet (76 meters) from where the suspect was shot.