After 4 hour standoff, ongoing negotiations failed, gunman took his own life at 11 PM

By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First

A gunman is dead and a veteran Milton Police officer wounded after public safety agencies responded to a structure fire on Main Street in Milton on Wednesday night, officials said.

The gunman, identified as Aaron LaRoche, 38, of Milton is believed to have taken his own life about 11 p.m., about four hours after he ambushed Patrol Sgt. Paul Locke, officials said.

A series of loud bangs, including flash grenades designed to flush the gunman out of the residence were heard about 11 p.m. Upon entering, police said they found LaRoche dead in the bathroom.

Police say LaRoche had broken off communications with crisis negotiators and multiple attempts to reconnect, including bullhorns and text messages, were unsuccessful. When the flashbangs drew no reaction, a drone was sent into the home. It appeared to show LaRoche in the bathtub and not moving. The State Police SWAT Team entered the home and confirmed LaRoche was deceased.

Sgt. Locke was discharged from the hospital during the night and is at home resting.

Sgt. Locke is well known in the community and the area for his work with traffic safety, including drug recognition and DUI arrests, seat belt enforcement, school bus safety, distracted drivers and more.

The suspect was well known to police. He has self-reported on multiple Facebook pages that he often heard voices in his head and was under mind control every day, officials said.

LaRoche, who lived at the scene, barricaded himself inside the residence about 7 p.m. following the firing of multiple gunshots near 76-78 Main Street.

Locke sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was rushed with a police escort by Milton Rescue to the UVM Medical Center in Burlington.

The suspect reportedly did not want firefighters and police to enter his home while it was on fire, officials said. That is when he reportedly fired multiple shots.

Locke reportedly was shot from behind, possibly in the lower back, but had on a bullet-proof vest. A second report said the officer also was struck in the leg. He reportedly will be OK.

First responders were fired upon when they arrived at the fire scene shortly after the 6:45 p.m. alarm, police said. Some firefighters had to take cover behind large fire trucks.

It marks at least the fourth serious case in which a law enforcement officer in Vermont has been shot, killed or critically injured since July 2023, State Police spokesman Adam Silverman said tonight.

Local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies all reported they had officers responding to the scene.

Independent Photojournalist Wayne Savage, who was at the scene, told Vermont News First that he estimated shortly before 8 p.m. that more than 100 police vehicles had responded from Chittenden and Franklin Counties, along with the ATF, U.S. Marshals Service,
FBI and others.

More ambulances also were responding, Savage said from the scene. Several nearby fire departments had sent trucks and firefighters.

The Vermont State Police SWAT Team, Bomb Squad and Crisis Negotiators, which often respond together in high profile cases, also were among those responding.

The Amtrak train, which was headed to St. Albans, was among those asked to stop service because the railroad tracks passed through the crime scene in Milton.