Public Safety

ATF agents bust illegal immigrant for attempted murder at South Burlington bookstore

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by Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First

An illegal immigrant wanted for wounding a man outside a South Burlington bookstore on Saturday was arrested in North Hartford, Conn. this afternoon, Vermont News First has learned.

Michael A. Wilson, 24, of Burlington was wanted on a state charge of attempted second-degree murder for the shooting outside the Barnes & Noble at 102 Dorset Street, South Burlington Police said.

Police found seven shell casings from a Glock 19X 9-mm in the parking lot after the 11:40 a.m. shooting.

The shooting followed a confrontation at a Burlington bar, Red Square on Church Street, between Wilson and the victim over a mutual female friend about 2 a.m. Saturday, the investigation revealed.

Wilson got angry and left the bar, but returned with a firearm that he brandished, the investigation showed. The bouncers at Red Square confirmed the incident and a Burlington Police officer got video of Wilson, records show.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Vermont developed an investigative lead that Wilson had fled to Connecticut after the shooting. Before he fled he had a female friend buy him more ammunition about 1 p.m. at a Williston gun store. Police said he was believed armed and dangerous.

ATF agents from their Vermont office were in the Hartford, Conn. area when they located Wilson on Wednesday afternoon, officials said. They were assisted by the Windsor, Conn. Police in making the arrest about 2:30 p.m..

Richardo Wright, who is in his 30s, was taken to the UVM Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the right shoulder, police said. Wright, formerly of Middlebury, has been living in the South Burlington area recently, police said.

“It was two men with a beef,” Detective Sgt. David MacDonough had said after the shooting.

South Burlington Acting Police Chief Sean Briscoe confirmed the arrest this afternoon and said a formal press release will be issued shortly. He said it was a good cooperative investigation with ATF.

Wilson will be extradited back to Vermont to face the attempted murder charge after he appears in a Connecticut court.

He also is expected to face a federal criminal charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by an illegal immigrant in the United States, records show.

Wilson is a Jamaican native and overstayed a 6-month visitor visa in 2023, records note. He had reportedly booked a flight to leave for Kingston, Jamaica in July 2023, but never got on the plane.

The ATF determined that the handgun used in the shooting had been obtained by a woman in October 2024 and given to Wilson as a birthday present, records note.

The gun buyer claimed she was unaware that as a foreign visitor that Wilson could not legally possess a firearm, the ATF said.

South Burlington Police found gun evidence, a Jamaican passport and more evidence during a search of a hotel room that Wilson had been renting recently at the nearby Anchorage Inn on Dorset Street.

The Chittenden County Gun Violence Task Force also was assisting in the investigation.

Several callers to 911 reported multiple gunshots were fired about 11:40 a.m. by the gunman, who was described as a black man wearing a black t-shirt and a black bucket cap. He tucked the gun into is waistband and fled, investigators said.

Wright made it to Market Street near the South Burlington City Hall and Library where South Burlington Fire and Rescue provided life-saving aid to him and later transported him to the hospital.

By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First

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Categories: Public Safety

18 replies »

  1. Becca Balint and the sanctuary crowd must be proud that they defend murderers in the nation illegally.

    And since he’s Jamaican, the Vermont liberals will use his arrest to allege that our police are racist for disproportionately arresting “people of color.”

    This disgusting nonsense has to stop before more people get raped or killed.

  2. What’s a virtue signaling Progressive/Globalist supposed to do with the constant drumbeat of violence perpetuated by their sacred protective classes? (illegal aliens being one of those classes). Globalists now own Vermont. They could care less about your safety, well being, pursuit of happiness, opportunity, and daily plight. They covet a dependent class while seeking rewards and privilege from the global elitists (power, money, prestige ). It’s all about virtue, smugness, and higher moral plane elitism. Worse, a complicit industrial media complex, well established in VT, willing to carry water for these Globalists. It’s up to all sane/non-progressive citizens to hold these Globalist’s (and their Media stooges) accountable for the mayhem they bring to Vermont.

  3. This story will NEVER, NEVER see the light of day in any main stream Vermont “press”, why is that?

    This story is way to funny.

    Montpelier, here’s your sign.

    • This is why it never even occurs to me to read Vermont Digger. “Fake news in pursuit of communism.”

  4. So he had a ticket home but stayed illegally. THIS is what Sarah George and Mayor Stanik want, diversity and it has resulted in attempted murder. It doesn’t help that some total dimwit gives her boyfriend a gun and claims she doesn’t know that he’s not allowed to have one. These people need to be fully prosecuted.

    This is also why we HAVE ICE around. THIS is what happens when people don’t leave that are supposed to by law. By not leaving, they choose to become a criminal. You reap what you sew, Burlington.

    • Isn’t it unconstitutional to discriminate against murderers … no matter what their color? Aren’t they a protected class – because the devil made them do it? Don’t they deserve our compassion, …. food stamps, housing subsidies, free healthcare, and free education?

      The level of absurdity in play here cannot be exaggerated.

  5. Thank you. And the country of Jamaica. Hopefully they make that correction.

  6. Whew, it’s a good thing that the they came up with that new law prohibiting firearms in bars. That sure stopped Wilson from coming back to the bar with his gun, didn’t it?

    The female friends who buy him his guns and ammo also need to be sternly prosecuted by the feds, as straw purchases such as theirs are a huge no no with the ATF, and they are now complicit.

  7. I thought the first sentence of this article would say: “A shoplifter who attempted to flee a South Burlington bookstore with a large stack of poetry books on Saturday opened fire when he thought ATF was about to take them away from him.”

  8. So stoopid Vermont politicians pass a law that you can’t carry a gun in a bar and within a short period an illegal alien violates that law. Not only did he violate state law he violated several federal laws.

    GUN CONTROL DOES NOT WORK IF IT DOES NOT STOP CRIMINALS FROM OBTAINING AND USING GUNS. But it’s not about preventing criminals from getting and using guns it’s a ruse to take away guns from law-abiding citizens because we are a threat to the communists that are running our government and to their power.

    You can’t take away someone’s right to free speech, freedom of assembly or freedom of religion without first taking away their ability to resist. THE 2nd AMENDMENT DOES NOT GRANT US THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS. THE 2nd AMENDMENT PROHIBITS THE GOVERNMENT FROM INFRINGING ON OUR RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS – PERIOD! THEREFORE, ALL GUN CONTROL IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND ILLEGAL! 

    Happy 4th of July

  9. No wonder the local tv stations were so secretive about reporting names, facts and details. Who directs wcax and local22 from reporting actual news, facts and details?

    • WIELDERS OF THE GUN

      1. Uvalde TX – AR-15 –Mentally Defective – Guns legally purchased.

      2. Buffalo NY – AR-15 – Gun legally purchased but shooter had illegal 30 rd magazine.

      3. Boulder CO – AR-15 – Mentally Defective – Gun legally purchased but shooter had 10 illegal 30 rd magazines.

      4. Orlando FL – AR-15 – Islamist on FBI radar. Purchased guns legally.

      5. Parkland FL – AR-15 – Mentally Defective. Purchased guns legally.

      6. Nashville TN – AR-15 – Transgender – Purchased guns legally.

      7. Las Vegas NV – AR-15 –All guns purchased legally.

      8. Sandy Hook CT – AR-15 – Mentally Defective. – Purchased guns legally.

      9. San Bernardino CA – AR-15 – Islamist – Guns illegally transferred and modified.

      10. Midland/Odessa TX – AR-15 – Guns illegally purchased.

      11. Colorado Springs CO– AR-15 – Non-binary – Prohibited from owning firearms.

      12. Poway Synagogue CA – AR-15 – Gun legally purchased but shooter had 10 illegal 30 rd magazines.

      13. Tree of Life Synagogue PA – AR-15 – Anti Semite – Purchased all guns legally.

      14. Lewiston ME – AR-15 – Mentally Defective. Purchased guns legally.

      15. Lakewood TX – AR-15 – Transgender Illegal Alien. Gun acquired illegally.

      16. Washington DC – SKS – Socialist – Acquired guns legally.

      17. Denver CO – AR-15 – Transgender – Acquired guns legally.

      18. Philadelphia PA – AR15- Transgender – Acquired guns legally.

      19. Orleans County VT – Auto Pistols – Two Transgender Illegal Aliens – Acquired guns illegally.