Joel Banner Baird

Free Press Staff Writer

WATERBURY

- Two people are in the hospital with gunshot wounds, one of the individuals shot by police, after officers responded to a call Thursday night in Bristol regarding a man experiencing a mental-health crisis, police say.

Tina LaBossiere, 42, of Crown Point, N.Y., was shot once in the abdomen by a state trooper after she approached law-enforcement officers while wielding a large-caliber revolver, state police commander Col. Tom L'Esperance said during a news conference Friday afternoon at state police headquarters in Waterbury.

LaBossiere refused commands to drop the weapon, prompting one trooper to fire one shot, L'Esperance said. She remained conscious and was taken by ambulance to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, where she was listed in fair condition Friday.

L'Esperance called the situation unfortunate but said he believed the shooting was "reasonable," given the level of threat LaBossiere posed.

Events unfolded quickly, he said: No mental-health professionals were on site, and officers' attempts at "verbal de-escalation" with the woman were unsuccessful.

"Our goal is to slow things down whenever we can," L'Esperance said.

Late Friday, state police identifed the trooper involved in the shooting.

The trooper involved in the incident was Sgt. Michael Dion, 37. Dion was hired by the Vermont State Police in January 2006 and is currently assigned as a patrol commander at the New Haven Barracks. Sgt. Dion remain s on administrative leave, with pay, per policy

. In January 2009, he was named senior trooper in Bradford, in August 2012 he was promoted to sergeant in Bradford and in June of 2014 he was assigned to New Haven.

. Once the investigation into the shooting incident is completed the case will be reviewed independently by both the Vermont Attorney General's Office and the Addison County State's Attorney's Office.

The incident unfolded when Norman Michaud, 56, of Bristol called the Shelburne Dispatch Center at 8:26 p.m. Thursday and threatened to commit suicide by gun, L'Esperance said. Police from Bristol and the Addison County Sheriff's Department, along with at least two ambulances, arrived on the scene, 62 Pine St., at 8:33 p.m.

About 12 minutes later, officers and witnesses heard what they believed to be a gunshot.

State troopers arrived shortly thereafter and established a perimeter around the end of a long driveway leading to the house.

A man then told police he was LaBossiere's son and that he was on the phone with his mother, who is Michaud's girlfriend, L'Esperance recounted.

The unidentified man learned that his mother was carrying a gun, and he repeatedly asked her to drop the weapon, L'Esperance said.

LaBossiere eventually approached the end of the driveway waving the handgun, leading to the shooting when the trooper determined she posed an imminent threat. L'Esperance said investigators found the weapon cocked, but the colonel said he was unsure whether the gun was loaded.

Michaud was found, conscious, lying outside the residence and suffering an injury to his head, L'Esperance said. He, too, was taken away by ambulance.

Both Michaud and LaBossiere remain at Fletcher Allen Health Care, where they are both receiving treatment for their wounds.

The colonel said Michaud's injuries most likely are consistent with an attempted suicide. Alcohol appears to be a factor in Michaud's behavior, L'Esperance added.

It was unclear what type of weapon Michaud might have used. Police mentioned only one gun during Friday's news conference in Waterbury but did not comment whether they believed Michaud and LaBossiere had handled the same revolver.

Arnold Menard, 52, of 62 Pine St. in Bristol, told the Burlington Free Press he had been outside his home when he heard a gunshot. Menard said he entered the residence to find his housemate, Michaud, with a gunshot wound to the jaw.

Earlier in the day, the victims had been drinking and arguing over how best to load a butcher-bound pig into a trailer, Menard said.

Detectives from the Vermont State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Vermont State Police Crime Scene Search Team were dispatched to the scene..

The investigation is being conducted in cooperation with the Addison County State's Attorney's Office and the Vermont Attorney General's Office.

Officers from the Bristol Police Department, the Addison County Sheriff's Department and Vermont State Police troopers from the New Haven Barracks responded to the residence.

Contributing: Alden Pellett, Free Press.