Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General William H Sorrell announced today that his office has completed its review of a police-shooting incident that occurred on March 21, 2016, in Burlington, Vermont. Sorrell said in a statement that his office has concluded, as a matter of law, that Burlington Police Officer David Bowers was legally justified in the use of deadly force when he discharged his firearm at Ralph “Phil” Grenon. The legal standard for the use of deadly force is whether the officer reasonably believed that he or a third party was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, and that deadly force was necessary to respond to that threat.
The incident began on March 21, 2016, when a member of the Howard Center Street Outreach Team, attended a roll call at the start of the 5:00 p.m. shift change at the Burlington Police Dept. (BPD) and requested BPD officers to accompany her for a visit to Ralph “Phil” Grenon. Grenon had made threats against the members of the Street Outreach Team on prior occasions, including saying that he would stab them. Grenon lived at 101 College Street, Burlington, Apt. 209. Officers David Bowers and Durwin Ellerman were assigned to accompany the Outreach worker.
En route to the apartment, the officers learned of a 911 call from 101 College Street reporting an agitated tenant (Grenon) was out of control and making threats to others. Upon arrival, they met with and confirmed from the building manager, that the tenant, Grenon, had been threatening to stab others in the building, and had said “this is war” because he was being evicted.
The officers knocked on the door of the apartment and received no response. They eventually obtained keys from the building manager, opened the door and observed Grenon standing in the entry way with a knife in each hand. The officers repeatedly ordered Grenon to drop the knives, but he did not comply. Grenon appeared to the officers to be agitated and unresponsive, telling them he was a lawyer and then a psychiatrist. Grenon then stepped towards the officers, still holding the knives, and slammed his front door shut. Officer Bowers fired his taser, but at least one of the prongs failed to hit Grenon. Officers Bowers and Ellerman requested back-up and they were joined by additional BPD officers. Over the next four hours, members of the BPD repeatedly attempted to make contact with Grenon in an attempt to reason with him and persuade him to come out. They used two crisis negotiators Officer Michael Henry, assisted by Officer Krystal Wrinn, to try to engage Grenon by calling him on the phone and by speaking through the front door of the apartment multiple times. Officer Henry told Grenon that they just wanted to talk to him, reminded Grenon that he had people who cared about him including his daughter and grandchildren. He told Grenon he was not in trouble, that they wanted to work this out with him, and could help him with the eviction notice he received and any other issues that were of concern to him. Nevertheless, over a four-hour period, Grenon did not respond to or contact the officers.
Eventually, members of the BDP entered the apartment and Grenon was located in the bathroom, where he was observed standing in a bathtub hiding behind the shower curtain holding two knives. The officers backed out and then fired pepper balls into the bathroom in order to subdue Grenon without a physical altercation. The pepper balls seemed to have no effect on him.
After firing the pepper balls, the officers again told Grenon to come out and put down the knives but they received no response. BPD Sgt. James Trieb then devised a plan to have Officer Ellerman with a shield in the middle of the bathroom doorway, (who held the shield in his left hand and a taser in his right), Officer Chase Vivori to Ellerman’s right, also armed with a taser, and Officer Bowers to Ellerman’s left, providing “lethal cover.” Sgt. Trieb would then push back the shower curtain with a broom handle, and as soon as Grenon was visible, tasers would be used to incapacitate him so he could be safely disarmed. Following this plan, the officers moved to the bathroom door.
When Sgt. Trieb pushed back the curtain, they saw Grenon, still armed with knives in the shower, so they used the tasers. Ellerman fired his taser first, then a second time, and while at least one of the taser barbs struck Grenon, it did not subdue him. Grenon exited the bathroom and moved towards the officers while wielding a knife in each hand. Vivori also fired his taser, but Grenon still kept coming at the officers. The officers backed up into the bedroom as Grenon, still armed, approached them. Officer Bowers then fired his weapon, six times, striking Grenon. Grenon fell to the ground and was quickly disarmed. The officers immediately provided medical care to Grenon until EMT’s arrived on scene, about a minute later. Grenon was then transported to the UVM Medical Center where he was seen by the trauma team and then pronounced dead.
Under the facts of this case, the Attorney General’s Office concluded that Officer Bowers was reasonable in his belief that he and his fellow officers were in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury when he fired at Ralph Grenon, who was continuing to advance at the officers armed with knives despite repeated attempts by the police to resolve the situation peacefully, and after use of multiple types of less than lethal force had failed to resolve the situation. Under those circumstances, Officer Bowers’ decision to use deadly force was reasonable and justified.
Vermont AG: May 10, 2016