Police shoot man during confrontation in Burke following 2-state pursuit

Updated at 6:44 p.m.

ST. JOHNSBURY – Vermont State Police say that either one or two troopers shot a man in Burke during a confrontation late Sunday night. A wild pursuit through New Hampshire and Vermont ended with the man exiting his vehicle and firing a gun, at which point state police shot him, according to Maj. Dan Trudeau, head of the state police criminal division.

Brenden Sackal, 30, of Hopkinton, Rhode Island, was in critical, but stable condition, at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, according to police.

Sackal was transferred to DHMC from Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury where he was taken with non-life-threatening injuries after being shot, Trudeau said during a press briefing Monday afternoon in St. Johnsbury.

Early Sunday evening, law enforcement in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, notified law enforcement in northern Vermont and New Hampshire that Sackal, who had a warrant out for his arrest, was thought to be in the region, according to Trudeau.

The warrant pertained to the “possession of high-capacity firearm magazines,” he said, adding, “There is much more that goes with the case but that’s about all I can say for that part right now.”

Rhode Island police had executed a search warrant at Sackal’s home Friday but were unable to locate him, according to state police.

The U.S. Border Patrol eventually spotted Sackal in his Chevrolet S-10 pickup in the Pittsburg, New Hampshire, area and tried to stop him, Trudeau said.

“He stopped for a brief moment, only a few seconds,” Trudeau said. Border Patrol continued to pursue Sackal to Stewartstown, New Hampshire, and then into the Vermont towns of Canaan and then Norton, he said.

At that point, Border Patrol, concerned Sackal would cross into Canada, put down tire spikes in the road, Trudeau said.

The spikes deflated the tires of Sackal’s pickup truck, according to Trudeau, but he kept driving with law enforcement in pursuit.

“The vehicle was basically on all four rims,” Trudeau said.

Sackal continued heading south, according to Trudeau and a state police press release, at “relatively low speeds” on Route 114, and state troopers from the Derby barracks were called for assistance.

“Once they got to the area into Burke on Route 114 near Pinkham Road the troopers tried to stop the vehicle,” Trudeau said. “What happened was the vehicle wound up in a short period of time colliding with two different cruisers and spun partially off the roadway.”

Trudeau said he estimated that Sackal drove on his vehicle’s rims for about 30 miles.

He declined to elaborate on how the troopers tried to stop Sackal’s vehicle or provide additional detail into the shooting saying that investigators still needed to conduct interviews.

“The gist is that Sackal exited his vehicle, there was an exchange of gunfire, which he started first and the troopers followed,” Trudeau said. “Sackal was injured and he was given aid and taken into custody.”

Sackal was then taken to the hospital for medical treatment, Trudeau said.

No one else, including the troopers, were injured in the shooting that took place around 10 p.m. Sunday.

Trudeau said he couldn’t say Monday how many shots were fired in the incident, or if bullets from the firearms of one or both troopers struck Sackal.

Sackal’s pickup truck, with many apparent bullet holes on it marked by red evidence tags, was parked in the impound lot behind the St. Johnsbury state police barracks. Investigators working out of the state police major crime unit truck parked in front of it could be seen examining the pickup truck.

Trudeau said state police are working with county, state and federal prosecutors as the investigation continues.

Both of the troopers who fired their department-issued handguns have been placed on paid leave, according to state police, and their names were being withheld for at least 24 hours from the time of the shooting, per standard protocol.

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