Fatal Confrontation
Brings Police Awards
By M. D. Drysdale

Several dozen Vermont State Police troopers were honored last Friday at the annual state police ceremony, held at the Statehouse ceremony with Gov. Jim Douglas and other notables.

Among those honored were six troopers cited for their work in a dangerous standoff in the Corinth woods June 24. The confrontation ended with the fatal shooting by police of Joseph Fortunati, 40, a mentally ill man.

Fortunati, who possessed a loaded .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun, was shot after a police tactical team was called in by Fortunati's family. Police had fired a Taser stun gun and four "beanbag" rounds without effect, and Fortunati ignored orders to drop his weapon.

On Friday, the two officers who fired on Fortunati, received Combat Cross awards for "courage and selfless actions taken in a volatile situation with an armed individual."

Four other troopers present were given directors' awards.

"As members of the tacitical services unit, you were deployed into a remote area in an attempt to take a dangerous individual into custory. You demonstrated remarkable discipline in a stressful situation while attempting to bring this incident to a conclusion. Your dedication, training and commitment to keeping other members safe was clearly displayed."

The attorney for Fortunati's parents, George Spaneas of Hanover, said the awards were "wholly inappropriate and wholly unwarranted," according to the Valley News newspaper.

The paper also reported that State Police Commander James Baker had "urged the Associated Press not to draw attention to the Corinth incident in reporting on the awards ceremony."