WILLISTON — The independent investigation by the Vermont State Police into the non-fatal shooting of a motorist by a Williston Police officer last month has been forwarded to prosecutors this week to review.

Officer Ethan Favreau remains on paid administrative leave for the Oct. 8 shooting, Williston Town Manager Erik Wells told Vermont News First this week.

Favreau reportedly fired two shots into a car operated by Michael McGovern, 52, of St. George as he attempted to maneuver around a stopped Williston police cruiser shortly before 5 a.m., officials said. They said the incident was near a downed utility line near 5479 St. George Road.

McGovern, who was struck in the hip, was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington for treatment and later released, state police said.

McGovern declined comment Wednesday about the case.

One early report indicated Favreau claimed he was brushed by the passing car as he stood on St. George Road, (also known as Vermont 2A) between Butternut Road and Old Creamery Road.

State police said Favreau was evaluated at the hospital for a possible minor injury and released.

No criminal charges have been filed in the case.

Williston Police have not said whether the flood lights from the marked cruiser used to illuminate the dark scene were on high-level intensity and may have blinded McGovern as he tried to maneuver around the scene. Police cruisers often have multiple levels of adjustable lighting for officers to select from depending on the scene.

State police have said Favreau was fully cooperative when a formal interview was conducted by detectives.

State Police Major Skip Barnes, commander of the criminal division, said this week the investigative reports were forwarded on Monday to both Attorney General Charity Clark, who lives in Williston, and Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George, who used to live in Williston, for their independent reviews of the police use of force.

Barnes said some medical reports also are still being sought.

The Vermont State Police Major Crime Unit, along with detectives and members of the uniform division of state police were part of the investigation. Also the Crime Scene Search Team was called in to comb the area for clues.

The investigating officers also had body and dashboard camera video from the scene to review.

Williston Police Chief Brian LaBarge, who took over the department in early August, has been unresponsive to phone call messages this week. He is a former deputy police chief in Burlington.

Clark and Vermont county prosecutors have come under strong criticism from police and the public for the long delays in reviewing officer involved shootings. In the most recent ruling, it took 13 months for Clark and George to clear Burlington Police Officer Brady McGee on Oct. 23 in what appeared to be an obvious good shooting following a 12-hour armed standoff in the Old North End last year.

McGee was one of the city officers responding Sept. 21, 2025 to an emergency call about a man making death threats – including racial slurs — to neighbors and police and barricading himself inside an apartment at 700 Riverside Avenue, officials said. They said the wanted man, with a long history of mental health issues, finally came out of the apartment after 12 hours and was wielding a knife.

Another BPD officer fired multiple, non-lethal beanbag rounds at the wanted suspect, who was under federal supervision for an earlier firearms conviction. Those beanbag rounds did not slow the suspect or cause him to drop his knife, officials said. Instead he continued to charge and McGee, an 8-year veteran, fired one non-fatal round into the suspect’s abdomen to stop him.

The city initially placed McGee on paid administrative leave, which lasted a few weeks, Interim Police Chief Shawn Burke said. McGee was later placed on in-house administrative duty, where he remained as the review dragged on until he was cleared on Oct. 23.

Burke said McGee was restored to the active roster and was expected to return to patrol work once his firearm was recovered from the state police evidence locker and other administrative matters were completed.

Clark and George have declined interviews about the extended delay in the McGee case. A spokeswoman for Clark said her office hired an outside consultant to do the review. That review has cost Vermont taxpayers $18,500 thus far, a public records request by Vermont News First has shown.

The spokeswoman said the expert’s report, which was received by the Clark on Sept. 20, opined that the use of deadly force by McGee was reasonable and necessary considering the totality of the circumstances. It was unclear why it took Clark and George five more weeks to release their findings.

In Vermont two separate state prosecutors normally are asked to review police shooting cases. They are expected to be done independently of each other. However for more than a decade the two separate prosecutors — by coincidence or otherwise – issue their independent findings at the exact same time in a joint news release.

The one time a state’s attorney provided his findings ahead of the attorney general he was praised by many – and criticized by others — for releasing his independent review when completed and not waiting. In that case it took less than 3 months for the police investigation and the review by Rutland County State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan to clear a Fair Haven police detective, who was on foot when struck by a car driven by a fleeing, intoxicated (0.249 percent) Castleton man. The suspect, who was on furlough from prison for a second-degree murder conviction, was armed with a handgun and had assaulted a neighbor during the June 19, 2023 incident, Sullivan reported. Sullivan issued a 38-page public report that included audio and video.

The man’s girl friend told state police that he did not want to go back to prison and preferred to die by “suicide by cop,” records showed.

Clark’s office needed 15 additional weeks to close the Fair Haven case.

Favreau is a fulltime certified officer and a 7-year veteran with Williston Police, according to the department. He had previously served with the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Office. Favreau is a graduate of Clinton Community College where he majored in criminal justice.

A second officer, Jeffrey Turner, also responded to the downed utility line call, but was not involved in the shooting, police said. He reportedly was further down the road trying to block traffic.

The town placed Turner on paid leave immediately after the shooting because he was a possible witness, but he later returned to active duty with the department, a spokesman said. Turner joined the Williston department in 2025 after breaking in with the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Office.