An East Hardwick man denied sale of alcohol at a convenience store allegedly was shot to death 90 minutes later by a Greensboro man who had intervened on the store clerk’s behalf, state police say.

The series of events that led to the shooting began at about 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, at the Hardwick Convenience and Deli store located at 454 Vermont Route 15 in Hardwick. A store clerk called the Hardwick Police Department after a man, later determined to be Robert Chaplin, 27, of East Hardwick, was denied service to purchase alcohol because he was deemed too intoxicated. A second man, later identified as Daryl Johnson, 48, of Greensboro, intervened in a dispute between Chaplin and the store clerk. Chaplin had left the store before Hardwick police arrived.

About 90 minutes later, Chaplin reportedly arrived at the home of Johnson on Eligo Lake Road, and an altercation ensued outside the residence between the two men during which Johnson allegedly fired a handgun, striking Chaplin. Hardwick Rescue subsequently transported Chaplin to Copley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy performed Thursday, Oct. 21, at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington determined that the cause of Chaplin’s death was a gunshot wound to the arm and chest, and the manner of death was a homicide.

The investigation into this incident remains active and ongoing, and no one is in custody.