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The Vermont State Police is identifying the trooper who fired his service weapon Monday afternoon in the town of Putney as Peter Romeo.
State police say Romeo shot and killed Scott Garvey at his apartment after believing Garvey was brandishing a firearm. However a subsequent search has yielded no gun.
Trooper Romeo has been a member of the Vermont State Police since 2022. He has served as a uniformed trooper in the Field Force Division at the Westminster Barracks since his graduation from the Vermont Police Academy in January 2023. His department photograph is attached to this release. He has been placed on paid relief-from-duty status, per standard procedure following a critical incident.
The man who was shot and killed is identified as Scott Garvey, 55, who lived in the apartment at Putney Landing where the shooting occurred. An autopsy completed Tuesday at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington determined the cause of Garvey’s death was gunshot wounds of the torso and left lower extremity, and the manner of death is a homicide.
Detectives with the Vermont State Police Major Crime Unit continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident. The investigation to this point has determined the following:
The situation began unfolding at about 11:20 p.m. Sunday, July 6, when police received a call from an individual at the apartment reporting a mental health concern. VSP’s embedded mental-health caseworker from the Westminster Barracks dealt with the concern over the phone, and troopers did not respond to the scene.
At about 7:15 a.m. Monday, police received another call originating from the apartment, and that was followed at 11:15 a.m. by a report from another Putney Landing resident that Garvey was outside exhibiting concerning behavior and making threatening statements. Troopers responded to the scene along with the embedded mental-health caseworker. Mr. Garvey returned to his apartment and barricaded himself inside while continuing to make threatening statements, including of self-harm. The caseworker and troopers attempted to communicate with Garvey to resolve the situation.
Troopers spoke with additional neighbors who also reported threatening behavior by Garvey.
Troopers applied for and obtained a search warrant to enter the residence to seize Mr. Garvey so he could be charged with criminal threatening and disorderly conduct. Upon entering the apartment at about 4:30 p.m., troopers encountered Garvey and reported that they saw an object in his hands that they believed to be a firearm. Garvey did not respond to commands given by the troopers. Trooper Romeo fired his service weapon.
Following the shooting, a search of the apartment by the Crime Scene Search Team located no firearms in the residence.
Personnel from the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, Windham County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Vermont State Police Office of Internal Affairs were on scene Tuesday to begin their independent reviews of the use of force.
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Categories: Police Reports
Suicide by cop?
A tough situation.
But Cops only have an instant to decide! I don’t blame him at all. Mental Health Crisis doesn’t negate an Officer’s decision to protect others and himself.
I’m a strong supporter of the police, but from what’s contained in this report, this officer will be fortunate if he is not charge with at leas manslaughter. I realize that encounters like described are tense and there is always the potential for danger and personal harm. However, again from the report, there were multiple interactions with the victim, who was known to suffer from mental illness, that very day and not a single incident reported a weapon, let alone a gun. one would think (hope?) that the responding officers would have been informed of that fact. Given that, the officer should have been extra certain that there was a gun in plain sight prior to discharging his weapon. Yes, a difficult situation and a death resulted from what turned out to be a bad judgement call. Sad all around . . .
It seems in this incident that the troopers made every reasonable effort to deal with the situation. The fact that the individual appeared to have something in his hand and failed to respond to trooper demands seems to have left the troopers without any other option other than to take decisive action. It clearly was a very tense, stressful situation in which a decision had to be made at a moments notice. Our law enforcement officers must be able to protect themselves in such a situation. I feel that the action by trooper, Peter Romeo was justified since it appears that he has no prior record of aggressive or abusive enforcement.