Off-duty Vt. sheriff’s deputy shot by police in NY after gunfight

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (WCAX) - A deputy with the Rutland County Sheriff’s Office is in stable condition after being shot 10 times by other officers while in Saratoga Springs, New York.

It happened just after 3 a.m. Sunday when the off-duty sheriff’s deputy got into a fight with a group of people believed to be from Utica, New York, and it turned into a shootout.

According to Saratoga Springs Public Safety Commissioner James Montagnino, the deputy got into a verbal fight at the corner of Broadway and Caroline Street. That escalated to the deputy getting slammed into a nearby car and knocked to the ground. He then showed that he had a gun. The individual he was fighting also pulled a gun, and the two exchanged seven or eight bullets, according to Montagnino.

Local police from Saratoga Springs who were patrolling nearby came running from around the corner and met the Vermont deputy head-on, yelling for him to drop his weapon.

“As they make that turn, what they see is the Vermont sheriff’s deputy standing on the sidewalk, his gun leveled and moving from side to side pointing the gun. You’ll hear the officers repeatedly, loudly, direct the deputy to drop the gun, get on the ground, again and again,” Montagnino said.

Saratoga police say the deputy did not comply, so they shot at him, firing 10 or 11 shots.

The deputy, who has not been identified, was taken to the hospital where he is in stable condition, according to Montagnino.

A person police believe to be the deputy’s girlfriend was also grazed by a bullet and was taken to the hospital. Montagnino says she is OK.

And a man shot earlier in the altercation is also in the hospital.

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