Vermont
Vermont police apologize for mock shooting that sent rattled high schoolers hiding under tables and texting goodbyes
By Taylor Galgano, Amanda Musa and Amy Simonson, CNN
(CNN) — Police in Burlington, Vermont, have apologized to high school students who were rattled by a role-play robbery demonstration and mock shooting they say sent them diving to the floor to hide under tables and texting ‘goodbye’ and ‘I love you’ to their loved ones.
About 20 students from a Burlington High School Year End Studies (YES) forensics class went to the police station for a field trip Wednesday where school officials were aware a crime reenactment would occur, school district spokesperson Russ Elek said in a statement to the VTDigger.
However, school officials “didn’t realize the presentation would happen without warning,” Elek said.
During the visit, three Burlington Police Department personnel simulated a robbery scenario that was not directed at students or faculty, the department said in a release.
Police said they had communicated with school staff lastmonth about the details of the demonstration, “including saying that the training incident would involve ‘using fake firearms in a mock shooting.’” It’s unclear whether teachers were told the simulation would occur without warning.
One 15-year-old in the class said students were listening to a presentation when he suddenly heard people enter the room screaming.
“There’s like three people fighting. The fake gun, that we didn’t know was fake at the time, got pulled out and shot what I think were blanks. They left shells. And it was still like loud,” the sophomore, who asked not to be named, told CNN. “Me and almost the whole class dove to the floor to hide under the tables because we didn’t know what was going on.”
CNN has reached out to the Burlington Police Department about the weapon used in the simulation.
The student said the person holding the gun was wearing a mask and they heard someone scream “get down.” He said that he was shaking, and that some kids were getting their phones out to text family members.
The email from school officials to families said, “While the gun was fake, the reenactment involved screaming and fake gun shot sounds.”
“If these are the people quote-unquote ‘protecting’ us, why did they make such a stupid decision without really thinking. … Especially with school shootings and stuff, we’re all already on edge,” the student said.
Police said they asked school staff whether the demonstration would be suitable for the student group, saying “It is about as real life as you can get, and is certainly exactly the sort of thing we deal with most frequently.”
“YES Program staff responded, ‘I think these students will be fine with this simulation. We will give a heads up to parents and students,’” according to the police release.
But in an email sent to families of the students after the incident, school officials wrote the simulation “was startling for many students and may have left some feeling confused and frightened as a result,” the VTDigger reported.
Burlington School District Superintendent Tom Flanagan and Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad released a joint statement apologizing to students Friday.
“It is clear to us that this week’s events resulted from a breakdown in communication between two groups trying to work together to create a meaningful experience for students,” the statement read, in part. “Both BSD and the BPD are committed to doing a better job of clearly laying out descriptions, expectations, and agendas and seeking clarification when working together in the future. Neither of us want any repeat of anything like this moving forward.”
Students ‘literally thought they were being shot at’
The sophomore student and his parent said they had no knowledge that there was going to be a shooting demonstration during the field trip. A grandparent who is guardian to one of the students likewise said the school did not inform them of the planned mock shooting. CNN has been unable to independently confirm what parents and students were told before the trip.
“If I had known that was going to happen, I would’ve never put him through that,” said the grandparent, who has asked to remain anonymous to protect the grandchild’s privacy.
The grandparent said the students “literally thought they were being shot at,” adding that their grandchild didn’t know what to do or how to react.
The grandparent told CNN their child “froze up” during the demonstration.
“Other kids were diving on the floor, trying to get under furniture, whatever they could do to get out of the situation,” the grandparent said the student told them.
The Burlington Police Department said it “apologizes to any students in attendance who were upset by the specific scenario and crime scene portion of the presentation.”
A representative for Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak also told CNN that parents and students were upset following the demonstration.
Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak said in a statement to CNN that she apologizes “for the harm and distress this incident caused Burlington High School students – students who have tragically grown up in a society where gun violence, including in school settings, has become commonplace.”
The mayor said she hopes the school district and police department “will take responsibility for the harm caused and be self-reflective about all the ways this should have been handled differently and will not be repeated in the future.”
School officials hosted a “restorative circle” on Friday for students and teachers to share their thoughts about the incident, according to an email sent to parents and students.
The 15-year-old student told CNN that teachers and police officers were present, but that he felt like police “weren’t directly holding themselves accountable.”
CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.
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LONDONDERRY, Vt. – At a quick June 1 meeting, the Londonderry Selectboard heard from Trevor Powers, a member of the Londonderry Planning Commission, who discussed a few zoning bylaw proposals. Powers reported that members of the planning commission have been making revisions to the bylaws since July 2024, “with the valuable assistance of William Goodwin, zoning administrator.”
“Items that people of the town have been objecting to have been removed,” Powers continued, adding that clarifications have been made to sections that the state requires and therefore could not be removed. He reported that definitions have been added, and language of the bylaws themselves have been updated.
A summary of the changes can be found in the first two pages of the report, included with the eighth draft of the bylaws, which were approved by planning commission on April 27.
Some of the amendments to the bylaws were discussed by Powers. With input from the housing commission, the number of days that nonpaying guests can stay on a property have increased. The shopping plaza is allowed one large sign, and a smaller sign for each corresponding business. The boundary of the conservation district was raised to 2,000 feet.
The selectboard moved to approve and warn a public hearing for the proposed amendments to the bylaws on July 6, at 6 p.m., at the town office.
Town Administrator Aileen Tulloch announced that treasurer Tina Labeau has initiated tax sales. Tulloch also reported that Doings in Derry would like photograph submissions of the community to upload to the town website, and that the Chester Snowmobile Club sent a thank-you note to the town and will be hosting a community barbecue on June 7, in Chester.
Matthew Barlow from Turning Point of Windham County then spoke to the board about their peer recovery center. Barlow stated that they have a full center in Brattleboro, but the center understands that is not easily accessible to those in the greater Londonderry community. Turning Point is looking to spread awareness about their recovery services, and are seeking spaces in Londonderry or Townshend in which to set up and expand their resources.
Town Clerk Allison Marino moved to discuss the malfunctioning alarm system at the town office, and suggested switching the town’s provider. Currently, Countryside Alarms is servicing the building, but an issue with the alarms sounding has not been resolved in a year. Marino believed there were some redundancies in the system setup that could be eliminated and thought the town could get a cheaper and updated alarm service.
The board then moved to close the Prouty property to the public once construction on site begins.
The Londonderry Selectboard meets on the first and third Mondays of the month, at 6 p.m., at the town office and on Zoom.
The Vermont Housing Finance Agency Board of Commissioners has awarded tax credits that will generate $28 million for developing 241 apartments, according to a community announcement.
The homes will serve low-income renters in seven communities across the state, according to the announcement.
Awards of federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits and state rental tax credits come as development costs and the demand for more affordable housing rise, according to the announcement. Since 2020, the cost to develop an affordable apartment and the number of Vermonters experiencing homelessness have both doubled, according to the announcement.
Competition for tax credits among developers is strong and the criteria for awards is rigorous, according to the announcement.
Three projects will receive $26 million for development costs.
- Highgate Village Housing in Highgate will create 30 apartments. Construction will begin in June 2027 with move-in starting in August 2028. The developer is Cathedral Square Corporation.
- Champlain Housing Trust and Evernorth are developing the Park Street Apartments in Winooski, which will have 24 units. The site is considered a brownfield and will be cleaned to state standards prior to construction. Occupancy is estimated for 2028.
- Twin Pines Housing Trust and Evernorth are developing the Sykes Mountain Apartments in White River Junction, which will have 48 units. Move-in is expected in December 2027.
Four additional development projects will receive an estimated $1.9 million from a state rental tax credit program for development costs.
- Cornerstone Housing Partners and Evernorth are working on the Arlington Village Center, which will have 30 apartments. The project involves the preservation and rehabilitation of 29 existing apartments and the construction of one new apartment across 11 buildings.
- RuralEdge and Evernorth are rehabilitating the Caledonia Renaissance Apartments in St. Johnsbury, which will have 18 units. The project will preserve 18 affordable apartments across five buildings.
- Cathedral Square Corporation and Evernorth are working on the Round Barn project in Grand Isle, which will have 24 units. The project involves the rehabilitation and construction of 24 apartments for aging people in two buildings.
- Jonathan Rose, Ride Your Bike and Champlain Housing Trust are developing the Ride Your Bike Building in Burlington, which will have 67 units. The project is part of a larger 240-plus housing development and is the first phase of a master plan for a currently underutilized parking lot.
This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
ORWELL, Vt. (WCAX) – Bud Carpenter is about to take a trip down memory lane.
“Heading to Poultney,” Carpenter said.
The ride there is dotted with silos, with many of the barns he built. “This is one of our buildings here; there’s one over there,” Carpenter points out. And then there’s a building in Orwell.
“That post office over… we built that in the early 70s,” Carpenter said.
Reporter Joe Carroll: Have you figured out how many buildings you’ve built through the years?
Bud Carpenter: You know, I thought about that a lot; I really haven’t.
Bud Carpenter Incorporated, or BCI, started on a “wing and a prayer.” “I just started working, I’d do anything, I’d wash windows, I would paint. I’d even cut meat in the store,” he said. “My first year in business in 1965, I grossed $3,600… Somehow, we made it all work; I don’t know how.
With hard work came jobs and some mistakes. “I’ve done a lot of foolish things,” Carpenter said. “Like get into the used car business.”
Reporter Joe Carroll: How did you have the time to do all of this?
Bud Carpenter: I ask myself a hundred times.
There are massive cow barns to small horse barns, like one in Poultney. “We just did this one last year,” Carpenter said.
With a bum knee and a pacemaker, the 83-year-old no longer works on site.
“He’s a barn building legend!” said Todd Boutwell, Carpenter’s son-in-law, who took over running the day-to-day operations last year. “He’s still there, every day.”
“I like to come out to all of them, I’m on all of them, one time or another, yeah,” Carpenter said.
Back on the road, the conversation turns personal. “I think the hardest part is when I went through a divorce. I had problems with my wife, and we divorced, that’s probably the hardest thing I did,” Carpenter said. “And that’s having to go back on my word… When you get married, you take your vows.”
He has since remarried. Beth and Bud have been together for decades.
And then there was the heavy drinking. “I worked hard, and I drank hard,” Carpenter said. “But I never missed a day of work in my life.”
The drinking has been cut significantly. His recollections of what he’s done are numerous. “You get a little choked up at times on it, everywhere you go, you see things you’ve done: It makes you proud,” he said.
A journey that continues.
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