Middlebury Resident Dies in Gunfight

George Demarais, 57-year-old Middlebury resident, engaged members of the Middlebury Police Department in a gunfight that lasted for nearly 45 minutes last Thursday, Oct. 4 and ended in his own death.

Police responders arrived at Demarais’ home — located on a wooded lot along Vermont 116 near the border of Middlebury and Bristol, Vt. — after receiving a suicide call from Demarais in which he outlined his desire to die by a law enforcement officer’s gun. Upon arrival, members of the Middlebury Police Department discovered a copy of his last will and testament — which donated his pet cats to the local animal shelter — posted on his front door.

Six officers from the Middlebury Police Department assumed strategic positions around the perimeter of Demarais’ house. Demarais, who was inside the home, ignored multiple requests to open his front door, and he eventually emerged from his home brandishing a long firearm at around 4 p.m. in the afternoon.

He disregarded requests to drop his weapon and fled to a wooded area adjacent to his house where he had constructed a barricade out of fallen trees and large stones. Police later learned that Demarais had also stocked his makeshift bunker with food, water, extra ammunition and a battle helmet.

Demarais — a former corrections officer at a Vermont prison — remained camped out in the woods for nearly two hours while the Middlebury police force arranged for the arrival of a hostage negotiation team and a tactical support unit.

The police officers tried to reason with Demarais, but he began shooting at them when they advanced on his position around 6:15 p.m. The officers, armed with M16’s and a .45 caliber carbine, responded to Demarais’s gunfire with a volley of defensive shots. The police officers secured a position at a distance of around 20 yards, and the gunfight continued intermittently for nearly 45 minutes.

During lulls in the shooting, officers attempted to negotiate with Demarais, but he responded with taunts and refused to emerge from the woods. After almost 45 minutes, Demarais’ gunfire ceased, and when the police advanced on his position, they found that Demarais had been shot and killed.

The gunfight is the first police shooting reported in Middlebury since the 1970s and only the second fatal shooting in the state of Vermont this year.

A medical examiner later determined that Demarais had sustained two gunshot wounds from Middlebury police officers. The identities of the officers who struck Demarais are unknown, but the medical examiner confirmed that the gunshot wounds were not self-inflicted. In a macabre twist, Demarais died in the grisly manner that he had desired.