Rutland City Police Chief Brian Kilcullen said he is still considering whether city police officers involved in a fatal downtown shootout with a suspect last month will be allowed to view any video of the incident. Vermont State Police have advised against release of the video to officers.
“All parties have been involved in the discussion over the last several weeks while the investigation has proceeded,” Kilcullen said Friday.
The issue of whether officers facing use of force probes should be allowed to view any body or dash cam videos before being questioned by investigators has prompted disagreements between state police, the agency heading those investigations, and local law enforcement departments. Last week, the Montpelier Police Department allowed officers involved in a fatal Montpelier shooting to review video before being questioned — against the express wishes of the Vermont Attorney General’s office.
In the Rutland case, Christopher G. Louras, 33, was killed, according to police, after exchanging gunfire in downtown Rutland on the morning of Oct. 8 following a short pursuit in the Rutland Shopping Plaza parking lot.
Christopher G. Louras is the son of former longtime Rutland City mayor Christopher Louras. Four officers fired on Louras in the shooting in which he also shot at the officers, according to police.
Police said earlier that morning Louras also fired into the front entrance of the city’s police station before he was spotted more than an hour later by police and exchanged fire with the officers.
The body of Louras’ cousin, Nicholas Louras, 34, of Rutland, was found later that same day in Salisbury. A death certificate says he died of gunshot wounds to the head and neck. The document said Nicholas Louras’ death was a homicide.
Police have said the deaths of the two cousins are linked, but haven’t revealed why they believe that other than the two are related.
Nicholas Louras is the nephew of both Christopher Louras, the former mayor, and David Allaire, the city’s current mayor.
The officers who exchanged gunfire in downtown Rutland with Christopher G. Louras included three members of the Rutland City Police Department and one officer from the neighboring Rutland Town force.
The Rutland City Police Department members were Sgt. Adam Lucia, a seven-year member of the department, Sgt. Kenneth Mosher, a 12-year veteran of the force, and Cpl. Elias Anderson, who has been with the department for four years. The Rutland Town Police Department member was identified as Deputy Chief Ted Washburn, a six-year veteran of the department.
Rutland Town Police Chief Ed Dumas said Friday that his department did not capture any body cam or dash cam footage of the shooting, referring further questions to Vermont State Police.
Kilcullen, the Rutland City police chief, said only one of the city cruisers captured dash cam video of the shooting.
That cruiser was located about 20 yards behind Louras’ vehicle, which had got stuck on a railroad crossing on the northern edge of the Rutland Shopping Center parking lot.
The city police chief added that he was aware there are differing points of view of whether to allow police in officer-involved shootings to review video footage before they are questioned by investigators.
“I can appreciate both perspectives and that’s why we’re involving others in the discussion,” said Kilkullen, who added state police have advised against allowing officers to view the video before being questioned by investigators.
The issue is a new one for the department, he said, as the last officer-involved shooting involving a city police officer took place before the department had dash cams.
Earlier this week, Montpelier Police Chief Tony Facos defended his decision to allow an officer who shot and killed 62-year-old Mark Johnson on the Spring Street bridge to view dash cam footage of the incident, despite state police advising against it in that case as well.
As a result, state police did not interview Montpelier Police Cpl. Chad Bean as part of the probe.
Both the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and Washington County State’s Attorney’s Office cleared Bean of any wrongdoing in the shooting in which investigators say Johnson pointed a weapon, later determined to be a pellet gun, at the police corporal.
Facos said at a press conference Wednesday that he allowed Bean to view the video so he could provide an “accurate” account of what had happened.
Maj. Dan Trudeau, who heads the Vermont State Police criminal division, said at his own press event Wednesday that state police changed its procedure about a year ago.
He said the department no longer interviews officers in use-of-force investigations if they had viewed videos of the incident, citing concerns that those officers may “regurgitate” what they saw on the videos instead of relying on their perceptions at the time.
Vermont State Police investigates all officer-involved shootings in the state. The Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the state’s attorney from the county where the incident occurred then conduct independent reviews of that investigation.
Trudeau, of the state police, said this week that his office is still trying to piece together details of the Louras case, and are awaiting forensic and digital testing results on such items as computers and cell phones.
He added that he couldn’t comment on whether the case is drug-related, though Gov. Phil Scott, speaking at a regular weekly press conference last month indicated that it may be.
Also, the Louras family released a statement last week thanking the community for its support, and raising the specter that drugs did play a role.
“It is our hope that those who wish to help will support the Mentor Connector’s work, especially with families touched by the opioid crisis,” according to the statement from the family.
“Our family was filled with love and opportunity, and it did not stop the curse of drugs and its heartbreaking impact,” the statement added. “No one is immune. Through the support of the Mentor Connector, we hope to help others who might otherwise face similar threats.”
Christopher Louras, the former mayor, has declined further comment.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the office that allowed officers to review video in a police-involved shooting in Montpelier. It was the city police department.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Rutland chief weighs viewing of video in Louras killing.