By Police1 Staff
BURLINGTON, Vt. — An officer has been cleared in the fatal shooting of a mentally ill man armed with knives, and the department has released video footage to open a dialogue on mental health, WPTZ reported.
Officer David Bowers, 23, was found legally justified in the fatal shooting of 76-year-old Ralph “Phil” Grenon. Grenon suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and had stopped taking his medication.
Police responded to a call March 21 that Grenon was behaving erratically and threatening to kill people. Officers attempted to coax Grenon out of his residence, but were forced to enter the apartment after five hours of negotiation.
Grenon was in his bathtub armed with two large kitchen knives. An ECD did not subdue him, and when he moved towards officers, Bowers opened fire.
Chief Brandon del Pozo released the videos to the media because of “the need to hold police accountable in the use of deadly force, which lies at the heart of a democracy,” according to WPTZ. He also released the videos to air his concerns about cops responding to mental health calls. Officers are not well-equipped to handle mental health issues but are looking to improve police response, he said.
Despite the push for more training, del Pozo ultimately believes focus should be on earlier intervention.
“We want to get out of the mental health business,” del Pozo said.
Grenon’s daughter, Niki Grenon Carpenter, told the news site she agreed with the outcome.
“This was a justified shooting,” she said.
Bowers has been on administrative leave since the incident but was beginning the process of re-certification.