Prosecutors clear St. Johnsbury police captain of wrongdoing in shooting that also left him wounded

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St. Johnsbury, VT - A St. Johnsbury police captain who exchanged fire with a suspect won’t face any criminal charges in connection with the incident, according to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. The suspect shot and injured the officer, who shot at the suspect but did not hit him.

The shooting that injured Capt. Jason Gray took place Dec. 13 in an apartment building in St. Johnsbury where police said they were investigating a report of domestic assault.

The Vermont Attorney General’s Office reviewed Gray’s use of force in firing back at the suspect, Scott Mason, and in a press release Thursday announced that they had determined that Gray’s actions were justified.

“Under the totality of these circumstances,” the release stated, “both during and leading up to the shooting, an objectively reasonable officer in Captain Gray’s position would have concluded that there was no other reasonable alternative than the use of deadly force to prevent his death or serious bodily injury.”

Windham County State’s Attorney Steven Brown also declined to prosecute the case after completing his own independent review, according to the release.

Brown served as conflict counsel on behalf of the Caledonia County State’s Attorney’s Office in conducting the review.

About a day and a half following the shooting, police captured Mason in an apartment building near the one where the incident took place.

Mason pleaded not guilty late last year to multiple charges, including attempted murder, in connection with the shooting of Gray. He remains in custody awaiting trial.

Gray had gone to Mason’s residence in a multi-unit apartment building as part of a domestic violence investigation. Gray walked up a flight of stairs with a fellow officer following him, according to a summary of the incident provided by the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.

Seconds later, a round of pellet shots hit Gray as he was in the hallway. The other officer and the reported domestic violence victim fled, the summary stated.

“Captain Gray then retreated behind a doorframe, drew his firearm, and peered down the hallway to locate the shooter when a second round of pellet shot hit Captain Gray,” according to the summary.

“Simultaneously,” the summary added, “during this second round of pellet shots, Captain Gray discharged one bullet from his firearm in the direction of the shooter, but it did not strike the shooter or any other person.”

Gray then collapsed from his injuries, the summary stated, and while he was on the floor, he saw Mason carrying a shotgun.

“Scott Mason approached Captain Gray and yelled, ‘get the [expletive] out,’ before fleeing the house through a second-floor window,” according to the summary.

The search for Mason prompted the state to issue its first ever Blue Alert, which is used to inform the public of an ongoing search for someone suspected of injuring or killing a police officer.

After the shooting, an officer drove Gray by police car to Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital. Gray was later taken to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, for treatment of his extensive, but non-fatal injuries.

Gray has since retired from the St. Johnsbury police department.