State police identify shooting victims
October 16, 2024 | By Lisa ScagliottiUpdate: This post was updated at 11:15 a.m. with the condition of Michael Perry at UVM Medical Center.
After a second day of investigating a fatal shooting in Waterbury, Vermont State Police released the names of the two victims in the case on Tuesday evening.
The deceased man was identified as Shawn Spiker, 34, of Croydon, New Hampshire, following an autopsy at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington. He died from multiple gunshot wounds, officials said, calling his death a homicide.
The injured victim who is still hospitalized at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington was identified as Michael S. Perry, 57, of Waterbury, police said. A hospital spokesperson on Wednesday morning said Perry was in fair condition.
Spiker died and Perry was injured in a shooting incident at a residence in the Kneeland Flats Mobile Home Park in Waterbury Center early Monday morning.
State police say they believe the shooter is another individual separate from the victims. So far no arrests have been made in the case. In Tuesday evening’s update, police said that the investigators have completed their work at the crime scene and “continue to speak with relevant parties to this incident and area residents.”
They reiterated their appeal to the public asking that anyone with information that could assist investigators contact the Berlin barracks at 802-229-9191 or share an anonymous tip online at vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.
Original post is below.
No arrests yet: Waterbury shooting leaves one dead, another injured
October 15, 2024 One man is dead and another was seriously injured in a shooting at the Kneeland Flats Mobile Home Park early Monday morning in Waterbury Center, according to Vermont State Police.
Vermont State Police investigators at the scene of Monday's fatal shooting in Waterbury Center. Photo by Cheryl Casey
So far, investigators have not released the names of the two victims nor have they shared any details on a suspect or suspects in the case. No arrests have been made.
Investigators spent Monday searching the crime scene – a trailer in the Kneeland Flats neighborhood of about 55 mobile homes – and interviewing residents, explained Major Dan Trudeau, commander of the Vermont State Police Criminal Division. Trudeau briefed reporters on Monday afternoon at the Department of Public Safety headquarters in downtown Waterbury. He said he was unable to offer many more key details beyond the initial report of the incident Monday morning.
State police responded to a 911 call at 12:45 a.m. Monday, Trudeau said, finding the two victims at a home in the trailer park when they arrived.
The injured man was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington where Trudeau said his condition was “stable” on Monday afternoon. The man had sustained “several gunshot-related injuries” Trudeau said.
The deceased man’s body was to be taken to the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death and to confirm the man’s identity, police said. Names of those involved will be made public after further investigation and notification of relatives, they added.
Major Dan Trudeau, commander of the Vermont State Police Criminal Division, talks with news reporters at the Department of Public Safety headquarters in Waterbury. Photo by Gordon Miller
Details so far
Police so far have shared few details about what led to the shooting and about the victims. Trudeau described the two men as “acquaintances” whose connection to each other was still unclear to investigators.
“One is technically from New Hampshire but has been in Vermont most recently for a short period of time, maybe up to a month or so,” he said. “It sounds like maybe he was staying there with some friends. They were acquaintances is as much as we can say now.”
Investigators believe that another individual is responsible for the shooting. “I can say it was not a dispute between those two,” Trudeau said, referring to the victims.
On Monday, investigators were working to gather details from interviews that included the victim at the hospital and witnesses. “There were some other people present at the scene when the incident happened,” Trudeau said. “We’re trying to get some information from those folks as well.”
Despite that information, Trudeau said he did not have any specifics to share with the public yet regarding a suspect or a person of interest. “We do not have any suspects detained or anything of that nature. We’re still working to identify a suspect,” he said.
Police have downplayed the potential threat to the community calling it “an isolated, targeted event.” Trudeau emphasized that point in his remarks. “What we know about the investigation so far leads us to believe this is an isolated incident,” he said. “We don’t have information that leads us to believe at all that there is a suspect running around aimlessly with a gun.”
With the investigation in its early hours, however, Trudeau appealed to the public for assistance. Anyone with information that might help detectives is asked to contact the Berlin state police barracks at 802-229-9191 or submit an anonymous tip online at vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.