Police ID man killed, officer involved in standoff
The Vermont State Police are investigating a Burlington police officer's fatal shooting of a man "displaying threatening behavior" and armed with two kitchen knives.
The shooting occurred late Monday at the end of a nearly five-hour standoff in a downtown Burlington apartment building for seniors and other residents.
The man, Ralph “Phil” Grenon, 76, had experienced deteriorating mental health in the weeks before his death, according to the authorities. Grenon was rushed by ambulance within minutes the shooting to the University of Vermont Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 10 p.m.
The state police, which is leading the investigation into the shooting, said Grenon advanced toward Burlington officers while holding both knives before one officer opened fire.
Officer David Bowers, 23, of Colchester fired multiple shots from his police-issued pistol, Chief Brandon del Pozo said. Six gunshots were audible from outside the apartment Monday night. The chief said he was unsure how many rounds struck Grenon.
Bowers joined the Burlington Police Department in July 2014. He was placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday.
Grenon was wheeled from the South Square apartment building at 101 College St. on a gurney just before 10 p.m. Emergency responders performed chest compressions on the man, who lay motionless as he was loaded into an ambulance and driven off, with a police escort, toward the Burlington hospital. The man's body later was brought to the Chief Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
Grenon had been the subject of at least three complaints the police department had received during the past month, Community Outreach Liaison Lacey Smith said at a news conference Tuesday. Police believe he had not been taking his medications properly for weeks.
The incident began shortly after 5 p.m. Monday at the building, also known as Woodbury Manor, which houses seniors and "vulnerable" residents, Deputy Police Chief Jan Wright said. Police said a crisis worker with the Burlington Street Outreach Team requested law-enforcement assistance to check on the man's welfare.
While Burlington officers were on the way to the scene, the apartment building's manager called police to report complaints from other tenants about Grenon, whom the authorities said was displaying "threatening behavior," according to the state police.
'We're here to help you'
By 9 p.m., more than a dozen police cruisers and SUVs were parked near the building, at the intersection of College and Pine streets. The situation was calm, though officers carrying shields and other equipment could be seen entering the building.
No cruisers had their lights on. The streets remained open. Officers on the scene, including Chief del Pozo and Deputy Chief Wright, seemed focused, but there was no tension or sense of urgency apparent to those watching from the street.
Then, shortly after 9 p.m., police could be heard yelling.
"We're here to help you. Put the knife down," one officer said, his voice audible through open windows on the second floor facing College Street.
"Can you come out, please?" the voice said several moments later. "We need you to come out. Drop the knife, please."
Officers told the man his family was worried.
Coughing could be heard from inside, but there was no other response.
At about 9:35 p.m., Wright stepped outside to talk to reporters. She said a man experiencing mental-health issues had been holed up inside for more than four hours, and officers were working to bring him out peacefully.
About a minute after Wright began to speak, loud shouts erupted from the second floor, followed by a rapid series of half a dozen gunshots. Wright raced back inside. Officers could be heard yelling that the situation was all clear, and that no law enforcement personnel had been harmed. An ambulance and a fire truck that had been waiting quietly a block away sped to the scene. Crews hurried inside to aid the man who had been shot, while a police officer cleared the sidewalk out front.
Del Pozo — who earlier had walked inside the building with a drill to help bore holes into the man's apartment for cameras to view what was occurring inside — spoke to reporters at about 10:15 p.m. The man who was shot was facing eviction and was believed to be a danger to himself or others, del Pozo said.
BPD: Many non-lethal tactics used before fatal shooting
The chief said Monday a mental-health professional had been speaking with the man during the standoff, but at some point, communication had ceased. At Tuesday's news conference, del Pozo clarified that the man said nothing to police during the standoff, making it difficult for police to know whether negotiations were progressing.
"We didn't know whether he was alive or dead," del Pozo said, explaining why officers made the decision to enter the man's apartment. "The question is, how long do you wait?"
Police used a key to enter the apartment. The authorities had roped the door shut from the outside to keep control of the situation, del Pozo said. The state police on Tuesday added that Burlington police announced their presence and held tactical shields.
Other residents on the man's floor were evacuated — although the building as a whole was not. At one point, officers fired a pepper ball, which led to the opening of the windows, del Pozo said.
Incident escalates
Tuesday morning, state police provided the following account:
Burlington officers made the decision to enter the apartment after attempts failed to view Grenon through cameras. Officers found Grenon hiding in the shower of his bathroom with the curtain drawn, and he made no response to verbal requests to come out and speak with officers.
Police saw that Grenon was holding at least one knife, so they backed away and continued verbal commands.
Officers also fired pepper balls into the bathroom, backed away and kept trying to speak with Grenon.
After some time, officers approached the bathroom again, opened the shower curtain and saw Grenon holding two large knives, one in each hand. Grenon made a thrusting motion with one of the knives towards the officers, which prompted them to fire a Taser at the man while he stood in the shower.
Grenon then stepped out of the shower and advanced toward officers as they attempted to retreat again into an adjoining room. One officer fired multiple rounds as police backed away from Grenon.
"Even at the very last minute, they were giving each other instructions to clear out and try to get out of this man's way as he was charging at them with two knives," del Pozo said during Tuesday's news conference.
Del Pozo said the entire incident was captured on police body camera video. He promised that police would make the video public when investigators deem appropriate.
"I believe in transparency, and I want you to see this," del Pozo said. "The people deserve to be able to account for the actions of their police."
The Burlington Free Press filed a public records request with the Vermont State Police requesting the body camera footage from the incident. The agency had not responded by Tuesday evening.
After the state police complete an investigation, the Attorney General's Office and the Chittenden County State's Attorney's Office will review the case and determine whether the shooting was justified.
This is the second police-involved shooting in Burlington since late December. Kenneth Stephens, 56, of Burlington was shot and killed during a Drug Enforcement Administration-led raid on his Elmwood Avenue home Dec. 22, in the city's Old North End, after he pointed a rifle at law-enforcement agents who broke down his door while carrying out a no-knock search warrant.
Records: Man killed in police raid shot in head
This story was first posted online on March 21 and updated on March 22, 2016. Contributing: Jess Aloe and Philip Tortora of the Free Press. Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverman@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wej12. Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.