Saluted along the 65-mile caravan
By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First. Photo by Dana Gray, Caledonian-Record.
ST. JOHNSBURY — St. Johnsbury Police Capt. D. Jason Gray, who officials say was struck by two shotgun blasts fired by a convicted felon during a domestic abuse call, returned home to a hero’s welcome on Wednesday evening.
Gray, who had spent five days at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. for his serious injuries, received a police escort for the lengthy trip home.
There were sirens sounding and blue lights flashing on many of the more than two dozen police vehicles that passed by the St. Johnsbury Public Safety Building on Main Street.
Police administrators across Vermont and New Hampshire got only about 90 minutes notice about the 65-mile procession that began near the Interstate exit for Hanover, N.H..
Even the ongoing rain could not dampen the joy coming from the caravan, which was captured on videos posted to several social media accounts.
The Caledonian-Record newspaper reported Gray arrived home with family members, including his wife Holly, and friends. Gray offered a few words.
A picture of Gray at his kitchen table by Cal Rec Editor Dana Gray showed a right black eye — the results of some of the shotgun pellets striking his throat and neck area.
Capt. Gray told the newspaper he is unable to see out of his right eye and his vision is blurry in his left eye. He also sustained a collapsed lung, possibly from the impact on his bullet-proof vest.
Asked how many pellets of birdshot struck him, Capt. Gray said, “I don’t know. They told me they stopped counting after 40,” the newspaper reported.
Gray was one of four St. Johnsbury Police officers that responded to 261 Portland St. about 4:30 p.m. last Friday for a domestic abuse complaint by a repeat offender, court records show.
Gray had climbed the stairs to a second-floor apartment and was blasted with a .410-gauge shotgun, police said. Gray had been at the scene for five seconds. Prosecutors maintain the shooting was premeditated.
Officer Jasmine Hendry, who was behind him on the stairs, later rushed Gray to Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital a few miles away not wanting to wait for an ambulance. He was soon airlifted to Dartmouth Hitchcock.
The shooting suspect, Scott Mason, 38, of St. Johnsbury is believed to have fled out an open window onto the roof of a garage where police found footprints.
Police searched several residences over the next 33 hours as Mason remained elusive, but investigators struck gold on a tip that led to a search warrant early Sunday.
State police obtained the search warrant for 251 Portland Street — the residence next door to the shooting scene after a local man reported he had seen Mason in a first-floor apartment about 11 p.m. Saturday.
State and St. Johnsbury Police, along with deputy sheriffs surrounded the residence and a loudspeaker was used to urge Mason to surrender peacefully.
A half dozen people, who were in the apartment and denied Mason was inside, came out first, police said. They were identified and released without any charges as the investigation continues.
Investigators told Mason they would be sending in a K-9 if he did not come out. The career criminal filed out, but not before damaging a state police drone being used to monitor the dangerous situation, police said.
Mason pleaded not guilty in Vermont Superior Court on Monday afternoon to a litany of charges, including attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
Mason also is facing a habitual offender designation in both Caledonia County and in an unrelated case in Essex County. At the time of the shooting, Mason was wanted for his third failure to appear in court in the last year in a case involving 26 forgery charges. He had pleaded not guilty to those 26 felonies and the Habitual Offender designation was added Monday, records show. It carries a possible life sentence as does the attempted murder count.
Mason has a lengthy criminal record, including six felony convictions — two are for aggravated assault in Caledonia County and two are for burglaries in Essex County.
A judge ordered Mason held without bail pending a so-called “Weight of the Evidence” hearing.
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