The Chittenden County prosecutor's office has ruled that a Burlington police officer's fatal shooting of a knife-wielding mentally ill man was justified.
Seventy-six-year-old Ralph "Phil" Grenon was shot March 21 during a standoff. Police say Grenon was experiencing mental health issues and facing eviction when officers tried to bring him out of his apartment peacefully.
Police say after trying to talk with Grenon for several hours, they found him hiding in his bathroom shower with two large knives. The state's attorney's office says police used pepper balls and a stun gun on him but those failed and Grenon advanced toward the officers, screaming and swinging the knives.
The state's attorney's office says Officer David Bowers fired six shots, hitting Grenon four times. Grenon died at the hospital.
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