Christopher Louras death, obituary: Rutland Vermont shooting – what happened?

Christopher Louras death, obituary: 33 year old Christopher G. Louras was killed Tuesday in an early morning Rutland Vermont shooting with officers.

He is the son of former Rutland Mayor Christopher Louras who served five two-year terms as the city’s top elected official. He lost a reelection bid in a four-way Town Meeting Day race in March 2017 to David Allaire.

Christopher Louras death, obituary: Rutland Vermont shooting – what happened?

Chris Louras shot up the police station on Wales Street around 5:30 a.m., firing multiple times into the building’s front entrance and then fleeing the scene.

However, through the surveillance cameras that the police department had, police was able to identify the vehicle and its registration.

Police later located the white Ford Focus around 7 a.m. near the Walmart in the downtown shopping plaza.

There was a pursuit, a few hundred yards. The fleeing vehicle became lodged trying to cross a set of train tracks on the edge of the large parking lot near the Amtrak train station.

Then there was an exchange of gunfire between the police and the suspect driving the white vehicle.

According to Major Tradeau, Chris Louras, armed with an “AR-15-style rifle exchanged some fire towards the officers.

Four officers, including three from Rutland City and one from neighboring Rutland Town, fired shots at Louras.

There were other officers on scene, but only those four opened fire.

Louras was struck, got injured, and was pronounced dead after being brought by ambulance to Rutland Regional Medical Center.

There were no injuries to police or other civilians.

Maj. Dan Trudeau, head of the state police criminal division, said at a press conference late Tuesday afternoon that authorities are investigating a link between the shooting in downtown Rutland and a possible homicide in Salisbury.

In the possible homicide in Salisbury case, the body of a man was discovered early Tuesday afternoon off Route 53, also known as Lake Dunmore Road.

The body, located just off the edge of the road, was reported to police by a person who spotted it while walking on the road at about 12:45 p.m. Tuesday

The scene in Salisbury is about a 40-minute drive from downtown Rutland.

Trudeau said he wouldn’t say why investigators believe the Rutland shooting is connected to the Salisbury homicide.

The major wouldn’t say if Chris Louras was a suspect in that homicide.

“It’s too early to draw that conclusion,” he said.