This post was updated at 5:29 p.m. to include comments from Gov. Phil Scott.
Law enforcement agencies locked down Vermont’s Capitol Complex for hours on Friday after they received a report of an armed man walking into an office building.
Nearly a week later, police have still not updated the public on the incident or their investigation.
While many details of the events are not clear to the public, officials, including Gov. Phil Scott, expect that the incident may prompt consideration of the security measures in place in the state government complex, which includes the governor’s office, the Supreme Court and the Statehouse.
After receiving a report Friday morning that an armed man walked into 133 State Street, which houses Vermont’s Tax Department and other state offices, police locked down and swept state buildings in downtown Montpelier for hours.
Scott’s office announced around 4 p.m. that police had not found a firearm or an intruder and had largely lifted the lockdown. But since then, police have not released additional information about the incident, which drew the response of state, local and federal law enforcement agencies.
The governor’s office, state police, and Capitol Police have referred all questions about the investigation to the Montpelier Police Department, which is the lead agency on the incident. Montpelier Police Chief Anthony Facos has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Montpelier City Manager Bill Fraser said police told him that two people reported seeing a man walk into the building with a rifle, and that a third person saw someone “carrying something long” into 133 State Street on Friday morning.
“The people, especially the initial two people, felt pretty confident it was a rifle,” Fraser said.
In the coming weeks, law enforcement agencies will be reviewing their response to the reports from the public that came in on Friday.
Adam Silverman, the spokesperson for the Vermont State Police said that state law enforcement officers will be working with the Montpelier Police Department and other agencies “to review the incident and the law-enforcement response to it.”
Fraser said he felt police responded well, given the information they had.
“Based on the info they had, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. Keeping those employees safe is our number one job,” he said.
The governor said Thursday he expects the event will prompt discussion about security in Montpelier offices.
“There has to be a balance. I’m sure this will come up, I’m sure the Legislature will want to address this as well and so we’ll talk about it,” Scott said. “What is it that we can do to make sure that we protect those who visit the Statehouse and work in the Statehouse but keeping it open as well?”
The governor hopes that the Statehouse will remain “as open as possible,” he said. “It’s the People’s House.”
Capitol Police Chief Matthew Romei said he believes the incident will likely spark a conversation about security protocols in Montpelier’s Capitol Complex.
With the exception of court facilities, state office buildings and the Vermont Statehouse do not have any metal detectors.
But Romei said he feels comfortable with the security systems already in place in Vermont’s Legislature.
“As far as the Statehouse itself, we cherish the openness of this building. We’re one of six or seven statehouses that don’t screen people that come in the door,” Romei said.
“Overwhelmingly I think our customers in the Legislature and the public are generally happy with the level of security that we have,” he said.
Buildings and General Services Commissioner Chris Cole said that the state is wrapping up the installation of new security infrastructure, including security cameras, and panic buttons, in buildings across Vermont.
He said that last week, state officials were finishing security updates at 133 State Street, and were putting in new cameras.
The state, at the urging of the union that represents state employees, undertook an effort to improve security in its workplaces around Vermont after a Department for Children and Families social worker was shot and killed while walking to her car from her office in 2015.
With the new installations in place, he doesn’t believe other security infrastructure like metal detectors, are needed in state buildings.
“I just think this has been the Vermont way for a long period of time,” he said. “We as the state employees don’t want to feel walled off from the public we serve.”
Fraser, Montpelier’s town manager, said that last week’s lockdown “warrants a discussion” about security in Montpelier.
“What’s the balance between changing that culture and increasing public safety? And I don’t know the answer to it ” he said.
“But I think you have to think about it, especially with things that are going on around the country.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Days after Montpelier lockdown, no updates on police investigation.