Police involved in shooting placed on administrative leave

by Guy Page

The man shot in the head and killed by police in Springfield Thursday night as he accelerated towards them was arrested for drug crimes in 2024.

Vermont State Police this weekend identified the man as James Crary, 36, of Newport, New Hampshire. An autopsy conducted Saturday determined Crary died of gunshot wounds to the head, and the manner of death is homicide.

According to investigators, officers with the Springfield Police Department and the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department were at 78 Valley Street around 9:30 p.m. Thursday as part of an unrelated investigation. When they arrived, they encountered Crary inside a vehicle parked outside the residence.

Police say Crary accelerated toward the officers, who were standing outside their cruisers. At that point, Springfield Officer Vincent T. Franchi and Windsor County Sheriff’s Deputy Bryan Jalava opened fire, striking Crary. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No law enforcement officers were injured.

The Vermont State Police Major Crime Unit and Bureau of Criminal Investigations are leading the review, as is standard practice for officer-involved shootings. Detectives are examining body-camera and cruiser video, processing physical evidence, and interviewing witnesses.

Officer Franchi, who returned to full-time duty with Springfield police in April after previously serving from 2020 to 2024, and Deputy Jalava, who joined the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department last year after prior service in New Hampshire, have both been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Court records show Crary was among 20 people arrested last year in “Operation Granite Shield,” a multi-agency drug trafficking sweep in the Newport-Claremont, N.H., area. At the time, Crary was charged with drug possession and falsifying physical evidence.

Once the Vermont investigation is complete, the findings will be turned over to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Windsor County State’s Attorney for independent reviews of the use of deadly force.

VSP is asking anyone with information about the incident to call its Westminster Barracks at 802-722-4600 or submit an anonymous tip online at vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.