By Matt Henson - bio | email
"We are all in shock," Carla Lafountain said.
Lafountain was referring to the death of her daughter's boyfriend, 52-year-old Gerald Woodburn, known to most as Dusty. He reportedly committed suicide during an intense encounter with police early Thursday morning at their home in Kamperville Park in Salisbury.
"Dusty made us that centerpiece for the table the other day," Lafountain said.
Her daughter, Laurie Lafountain, and Woodburn became involved in a heated argument late Wednesday night. He reportedly became enraged after reading a text message conversation his girlfriend was having with another man.
"I knew they were kind of on the outs," Carla Lafountain said.
As the argument continued to escalate, Lafountain ran up the street to her parents' house to dial 911. She returned to the home with her two brothers. That's when the gunfire rang out.
"When the trooper tried to interview the victim and Woodburn, the victim conveyed to the troopers Woodburn had a gun. Woodburn then raised the gun pointing it at the troopers. At this time, one of the troopers fired a single round at Woodburn. At this time, troopers lost sight of Woodburn as he retreated further into the residence," Vt. State Police Col. Tom L'Esperance said.
At that point, the troopers and Lafountain's two brothers ran out of the home. Laurie Lafountain stayed inside, but came running out a short time later after Woodburn reportedly shot himself.
"She observed him on the floor of the kitchen, that he was probably dying at that point if not dead. The troopers were unsure at that point what his status was other than he still had a weapon and they set up a perimeter," L'Esperance said.
At that time, the state police tactical team evacuated two other apartments within the house.
"Intimidating a bit to see all the police in tactical gear," said Rick Venne, one of the evacuees. "We all had to evacuate single file out of the house where we would meet another officer who would escort us then away from the scene."
After police were unable to reach Woodburn for several hours, they entered the home and found Woodburn dead in the kitchen. Lafountain's family is still trying to come to the terms with what happened.
"He made me a deer, but I couldn't have it until he glued it he said. He made it out of white birch for Christmas," Carla Lafountain said.
L'Esperance would not identify the trooper who fired the shot. He says state police policy prohibits releasing the name for 24 hours. That trooper and another trooper who was inside the home at the time of the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave for 3 days, which is standard protocol following incidents like this.
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