RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) — A Rutland police officer was justified when he shot and wounded a man who he believed had run over another police officer during a drug investigation last summer, the attorney general’s office said.
The Attorney General’s office said Tuesday it was declining to prosecute Rutland City Police Officer Tyler Billings for the non-fatal shooting of Michael Goodnough, 45, of Rutland.
The investigation found Billings believed the life of Officer Nathan Harvey was in danger after being run over by a vehicle driven by Goodnough. It turned out that after being knocked down, Harvey had managed to get out of the way of the vehicle.
Investigators used video from the scene, including two cruiser dashcam videos and footage from a nearby business, a ballistics examination, and a count of the number of bullets in Billings’ gun. They determined Billings fired eight times while Harvey was lying on the ground near the suspect’s vehicle.
“Moreover, once Officer Billings realized that the driver was no longer a threat to Officer Harvey, he stopped shooting,” the release said. “Therefore, Officer Billings’ shooting of the driver was justifiable.”
Goodnough was taken into custody after a vehicle chase.
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