Records: Winooski man killed by shots to head, torso

Jesse Beshaw, the man killed by a sheriff's deputy last week in Winooski, died from multiple gunshots to the head and torso, a death certificate shows.

Beshaw, 29, died within seconds to minutes of the time he was wounded at about 4:25 p.m. Friday outside the O'Brien Community Center at the end of Hickok Street, according to the death certificate prepared by Vermont's chief medical examiner, Steven Shapiro.

The document, released Wednesday in response to a records request by the Burlington Free Press, does not indicate how many times Beshaw was hit or specify exactly where on his body. 

Police fatally shoot man in Winooski

The Vermont State Police have said Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy Nicholas Palmier fired seven gunshots at Beshaw, striking him six times and grazing him once.

Beshaw's death certificate classifies his death as a homicide. That determination is not one of legal culpability, however, but a distinction that means Beshaw was killed by another person. 

Police and prosecutors are investigating to determine whether the shooting was justified.

Palmier has been placed on paid leave, standard practice after officer-involved shootings, pending the results of the investigation. The inquiry is being led by the Vermont State Police, which will then turn over the findings for review by the Attorney General's Office and the Chittenden County State's Attorney's Office.

Palmier, 31, has been a deputy in the Franklin County Sheriff's Office since August 2015.

Beshaw was unarmed at the time of the shooting but was advancing on the deputy with an arm behind his back and refusing commands to stop when he was fatally shot, investigators said.

The police have said officers were seeking Beshaw on an arrest warrant on suspicion of felony burglary when he ran, then stopped behind the O'Brien Community Center, turned and advanced on Palmier.

The shooting was captured on body cameras, but investigators are declining to release the video to the public while the investigation is ongoing.

This story was first posted online on Sept. 21, 2016. 

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