Vermont News First
COLCHESTER – Colchester Police have arrested one of the two masked men wanted for a near-fatal shooting in old Fort Ethan Allen that left a man in critical condition over the weekend.
Ryan Ducharme, 21, of Burlington is still being sought for attempted homicide in the shooting at 363 Ethan Allen Avenue about 1:20 a.m. Saturday, Colchester Police said.
Investigators conducted a court-ordered search of Ducharme’s residence at 374 Riverside Avenue. The missing man, formerly of Winooski, is believed to be armed and dangerous, police said.
His reported accomplice, Jonathan Willard, 19, of Winooski was arraigned in Vermont Superior Court on Tuesday on several criminal charges.
Those charges include aiding in the commission of a felony and false information to police as part of the ongoing investigation into the attempted homicide, officials said.
The victim, Shaun Sylveste, was shot at least three times in the chest, abdomen and a leg, police said. The 23-year-old Colchester resident remained in critical condition at the hospital on Tuesday evening, police said.
Police said the investigation soon developed the names of two suspects. Investigators also learned that when Ducharme drinks he becomes confrontational and picks fights with everyone to include his friends, police said in court papers.
When eventually confronted by police, Willard maintained he did not know the name of the man he was hanging around with on Friday night and who asked him to drive him to old Fort Ethan Allen early Saturday, court records note.
Responding officers had found a man with multiple gunshot wounds laying on the ground outside of the apartment building on Saturday morning and immediately began providing emergency medical care, police said.
St. Michael’s College Rescue personnel arrived to rush the man to the University of Vermont Medical Center for treatment of his various wounds.
There were at least six .45-caliber casings, blood and other evidence found at the scene, which is near the Colchester/Essex boundary.
Both Colchester and Essex Police emergency dispatchers reported receiving phone calls indicating multiple shots, likely 5 or 6, had been fired. A vehicle with a loud exhaust was heard fleeing the scene.
Police quickly developed names of possible suspects and were reportedly looking for an orange-colored car with Vermont plates, possibly a Ford Flex, that fled the scene.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives along with its Chittenden County Gun Violence Task Force were called out to assist with the investigation, police said.
Essex and Williston Police also responded and assisted at the scene.
Detective Michael West said initially on Saturday he believed the shooting was an isolated incident and that there was no ongoing threat to the public.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to call Colchester Police at (802) 264-5555.
