By STEVEN JUPITER
LEICESTER—A shooting in Leicester on Sunday night left one man dead and another critically wounded.
Vermont State Police (VSP) received a 911 call at 9:55 p.m. from 1352 US Route 7, near the intersection of Route 7 and Leicester-Whiting Road. Brandon Police Department (BPD) helped to secure the scene and provide medical assistance to one of the victims before VSP arrived. According to Brandon Police Chief David Kachajian, BPD officers left the premises when VSP got there.
At a press conference at Brandon Fire Department on Monday afternoon, VSP Major Dan Trudeau, Commander of the Criminal Division, confirmed that one man had died and that another had been airlifted from Porter Hospital in Middlebury to UVM Medical Center in Burlington, where he was in critical but stable condition in the ICU.
According to Maj. Trudeau, the shooter may have been driving a black Nissan and have been in that vicinity between 9:30 and 10 p.m. VSP asks that anyone with information about the car or the shooting contact the New Haven Barracks of the State Police. VSP also stated that there were other witnesses in the house apart from the victims.
MAJ. DAN TRUDEAU of the Vermont State Police spoke with the press outside the Brandon Fire Department on Monday afternoon. VSP is investigating the shooting as a homicide.
Maj. Trudeau also stated that the shooting appeared to target the specific individuals involved and that there was no continuing danger to the surrounding community.
“We have a general idea of who we’re looking for,” said Trudeau. “There isn’t someone running aimlessly around.”
The Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union (RNESU) made the decision on Monday morning to close all district schools in response to the incident. The shooting took place just steps from Otter Creek Academy. According to Tyler Weideman of RNESU, the district lacked information about any continuing danger and closed the schools “out of an abundance of caution.”
Though VSP has not released the names of the victims, property records indicate that the address is owned by Jonathan Lanpher. By Monday afternoon, it was known locally that the deceased was Jonathan’s brother Scott Lanpher, 35, and that their brother Larry Lanpher was in the ICU.
Police have not offered a motive for the shooting. We will provide more information as it becomes available.
