A small Vermont town is reeling after a member of the governing board of selectmen was found shot to death in his home along with his wife and teenage stepson.
Brian Crossman, 46, Erica Crossman, 41, and her son Colin Taft, 13, were identified by police on Tuesday, and their deaths ruled homicides.
Residents of the 1,400-population town of Pawlet, near the New York State line, were aghast and rattled.
No arrests had been made as of Thursday afternoon, but police said earlier in the week there was no danger to the community.
The shootings most likely happened late Saturday afternoon, police told CBS affiliate WCAX. The bodies were discovered early Sunday after someone phoned in a report of a “suspicious person,” which led police to the gruesome scene.
Inside the home on Vermont Route 133, cops found Brian Crossman suffering from gunshot wounds to the head and torso. Erica Crossman had also been shot in the head, while Colin Taft had multiple gunshot wounds, police said.
The “suspicious person,” wearing bloody clothing, was waiting for police at the Wells Village School nearby and took them to the home, the Bennington Banner reported.
“There was a report of a person that had some blood on them that they saw on the roadway,” Vt. State Police Maj. Dan Trudeau told WCAX. “We ended up detaining this person. [They] described getting to the house, and finding deceased bodies inside.”
That person has not been identified but is believed to be a relative of the victims, according to the Bennington Banner. They have not been ruled a positive suspect.
The Crossmans had just married in June, and Brian Crossman had recently taken over the family farm from his sister, a neighbor told the outlet.
Crossman had been elected to the Pawlet Selectboard in spring and was serving a one-year term. A Board of Select meeting was held as previously scheduled on Tuesday, with flowers marking Crossman’s place at the table. The five-member board observed a moment of silence, and chairperson Mike Beecher read a statement.
“Brian Crossman was a friend and neighbor, a hardworking community member who just this year stepped up to join the Pawlet Selectboard,” he said. “This tragedy that struck him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shaken and grieving. Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating loss.”
With News Wire Services
