HARTFORD VILLAGE - Two people were shot early Thursday morning during an apparent break-in at a residence overlooking the bridge which spans the White River in Hartford Village.
One man was dead in the driveway at the scene following the 3:50 a.m. shooting and a woman was transported to the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where initial reports were she was expected to survive her injuries.
Police in both Hartford and Lebanon were looking for a black male wearing dark clothing who reportedly fled the shooting on foot toward Mill Road.
Hartford police and firefighters responded to the call and initially treated a critically wounded male who was found at the top of a steep driveway on Verna Court, a short drive with just one residence and barn that branches off of the VA Cutoff Road right above the railroad crossing in Hartford Village.
Police from at least three towns responded to the scene on Verna Court. All photos © Eric Francis.
The brown two-and-a-half story residence is surrounded by cars, appliances, sheds and small outbuildings and police had to quickly search them and the barn on the property for any additional victims, before they backed off and secured the scene and set about the process of applying for search warrants to process the entire crime scene.
Detectives were called out of bed and the Vermont State Police Crime Scene Search Team was contacted for assistance before the sun came up.
Police could be seen with assault rifles checking the area and additional officers from Lebanon and Windsor responded to Hartford to help at the scene and to search the immediate area for any signs of the suspect.
The house where the shooting took place sits just above the railroad crossing on VA Cutoff Road in Hartford Village. It is the only residence on Verna Court, which is really just a short, steep driveway.