Attorney General's
Shooting Report:
Full Text
Following is the account of the event as described by the attorney general's office in a release:

The events leading up to the incident began on June 19, 2006, when members of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Vermont Dept. of Environmental Conservation were working in the area of Copper Mine Road, which is a Class IV road located in Corinth, Vermont. The workers came upon a tent that had been set up in the roadway, and encountered a man later identified as Joseph A. Fortunati. He refused to identify himself to the workers, and became very agitated when informed that he could not camp in that area.

Fearing the potential for violence, the workers left the area. They returned on June 23 and saw the same man camped out in the road, and also saw that ropes and logs were placed across the road, blocking the roadway. As the workers approached Mr. Fortunati, he ran off into the woods.

The workers then contacted the Vermont State Police. Officers from the state police barracks in Bradford learned that the individual involved was Joseph Fortunati.

His father, Robert Fortunati contacted the police and told them that his son Joseph did not like the state police and had problems with law enforcement in the past. Robert also said that his son was bipolar and schizophrenic and had not been taking his medication. He said his son had been treated at the Clara Martin Center in the past.

Robert told the police he believed Joseph had a handgun, had threatened him with it in the past, and believed Joseph was capable of using it. He said that he and one of his other sons would go speak with Joseph to try to convince him to move his campsite to nearby land owned by the Fortunati family.

Robert was advised to contact the state police with further information.

The state police officers contacted the Clara Martin Center to obtain additional information about Joseph Fortunati. A therapist, who had worked with him, confirmed that Joseph Fortunati was suffering from mental illness, that she had heard that he had a gun, and that she believed he was capable of using it. The following day, June 24, 2006 at about 11:30 a.m. Robert Fortunati telephoned the state police to inform them that he, his wife, and his son, Robert Fortunati, Jr., had gone to speak with Joseph earlier that morning, and attempted to convince him to leave the area. In response, Joseph pulled out a handgun and pointed it at his brother Robert Jr., and told them to get out of there now. He also said that Joseph had threatened to kill all of them if they ever came back.

Based on the fact that Joseph Fortunati had threatened to kill members of his own family, as well as the obvious public safety concerns raised by the information obtained from the Clara Martin Center, the state police decided to arrest Joseph Fortunati for the offenses of aggravated assault, a felony, and reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor.

Because the police knew that Joseph Fortunati was armed with a handgun, and mentally unstable, the officers in Bradford sought assistance from the Tactical Services Unit (TSU) and the Hostage Negotiation Unit (HNU). An incident commander, VSP Capt. Walter Goodell, was charged with coordinating the response from the members of the two units.

When the TSU team approached the area where Joseph Fortunati's campsite was believed to be located, one of the officers, Sr. Tpr. Robert Snetsinger, saw Mr. Fortunati and began talking to him. However, after a brief conversation, Mr. Fortunati quickly moved away.

Tpr. Snetsinger, as well as other officers in the area, repeatedly yelled to Mr. Fortunati to stop and to put his hands up. Mr. Fortunati did not comply with these commands. The officers then attempted to gain compliance by the use of less than lethal force, firing beanbag rounds at Mr. Fortunati. This had no apparent effect on Mr. Fortunati, who went to his vehicle, reached into it, and then ran towards the woods.

One of the officers saw that Mr. Fortunati had a handgun and yelled "GUN" to alert the others. Mr. Fortunati took cover behind a tree. The officers were spread out, some in tall grass in an overgrown field and others positioned among a thin line of small saplings, which offered little cover. Despite repeated calls to Mr. Fortunati to drop the gun, to come out, and put his hands up, he did not comply. Another less than lethal beanbag round fired at Mr. Fortunati was also unsuccessful. Mr. Fortunati then pulled out his handgun, raised it to chest level and pointed it at Tprs. Snetsinger and Campagne.

In response, Sgt. Thomas and Tpr. Campagne both fired lethal rounds at Mr. Fortunati, who later died as a result of the shooting. A black handgun, which was loaded, was recovered from under his chest in the area where his hands had been.

Under the facts of this case, Orange County State's Attorney William Porter and the Attorney General's Office have concluded that Officers Thomas and Campagne were reasonable in their belief that there was an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury when, after repeated commands to surrender peacefully, Joseph Fortunati raised a handgun and pointed it at officers Snetsinger and Campagne. Given the serious threat, the officers response of using deadly force was reasonable and justified.