By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First

SWANTON – A Swanton father of three children is dead and his housemate is charged with second-degree murder following a fatal shooting at their residence on 4th Street in the village of Swanton early Saturday, officials said.

The family of Joshua Many, 37, told Vermont News First on Saturday morning that he was the victim of the shooting.

They said Mitchal Shedrick, 52, was a suspect in the slaying and by 10:30 p.m. Vermont State Police said they had arrested him on the second-degree murder charge.

Police lodged Shedrick at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town about 10 p.m., records show.  A state judge ordered Shedrick held without bail pending his arraignment in Vermont Superior Court in St. Albans at 1 p.m. Monday.

One of the last persons to see Many alive said he was shocked to learn about the death of his good friend.

“He did not deserve it,” Chris Laroche told Vermont News First on Saturday afternoon.

Laroche said he was stranded early Saturday and Many agreed to come pick him up and drop him home in Highgate about 3 a.m.

“He was an awesome father,” said Laroche, who noted the victim had three daughters that are in their teens.

Swanton Village Police began receiving multiple 911 calls about 3:15 a.m.

Many was found dead by first responders.

Laroche said there were several suspicious things about the case, including he received a text from the victim’s phone shortly after the fatal shooting.

He said Saturday afternoon that police still had not interviewed him 12 hours after the shooting.

Vermont State Police had reported in a news release issued Saturday morning that they were investigating “a suspicious death.”

The dead man was found inside the residence when police arrived, it said.

It was unclear early on in the case if the killing had happened outside or inside the residence.

Police in their news release about the arrest did not say if any firearms were seized.

State police did not respond to Vermont News First inquiries.

The official cause and manner of Many’s death will be released after the autopsy, police said. It had been tentatively scheduled for Sunday.

The victim’s family said Many’s girlfriend, and two children of the man detained by police reportedly were among those believed to be at the home at the time of the shooting.

Vermont News First withheld Shedrick’s name while the investigation proceeded.

There was one report that a claim of self-defense was being offered.

A person familiar with the case said Many was reportedly shot in the torso.

The victim’s SUV, which was parked in front of the residence, had one of its passenger doors open.

The victim and the detained man were both known to police before the incident.  Many had moved in recently, family and police said.

Swanton Police Chief Matt Sullivan said it was the first homicide in the village since February 2022.

Vermont State Police, which has fulltime homicide detectives, was asked by Swanton Police to take over the investigation.  Swanton Police continue to assist.

Investigators were required to seek a search warrant from a state judge to re-enter the home to collect evidence.  By mid-afternoon that process was underway.  The body was still at the scene.

Initial work by investigators indicates this was an isolated event with no identified threat to the community at large, State Police spokesman Adam Silverman said.

Franklin County State’s Attorney Bram Kranichfeld and Chief Deputy Diane Wheeler were working closely with investigators throughout the day, including securing the search warrant.

Officers from across the state with the Vermont State Police Major Crime Unit and the Crime Scene Search Team, along with members of both the uniform and detective divisions responded to 4th Street and are conducting interviews and processing the scene.

State police said other assisting agencies included St. Albans Police, U.S. Border Patrol, the Swanton Fire Department and Missisquoi Valley Rescue.

Following processing of the scene by CSST, the plan was to take the victim’s body to the office of Vermont’s Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington for an autopsy.

Anyone with information that could assist investigators is asked to call the Vermont State Police in St. Albans at (802) 524-5993.