Police: 9 officers opened fire on robbery suspect

Police have released the identity of a suspected armed robber who was fatally shot in Montpelier Tuesday morning. They say he is Nathan Giffin, 32, of Essex.

Giffin was fatally shot by police on the football field at Montpelier High School about 90 minutes after he allegedly held up a nearby credit union. Investigators say Giffin was brandishing a silver handgun and made threatening statements toward officers and some suicidal statements. They say he ignored orders to surrender the gun.

A preliminary investigation found nine officers fired their guns at Giffin-- eight Vermont State troopers and one Montpelier police officer. Their names have not yet been released but police say they have been put on administrative leave. No police officers were injured in the incident.

Click here for our coverage from earlier Tuesday on the incident, including more details and reaction from students and parents.

We discovered a string of illegal activity connected to Nathan Giffin, including incidents as recently as Christmas. We've even shared his picture on our news before.

Dec. 26, we showed viewers surveillance video from the Walmart in Williston. Police said it showed Nathan Giffin, 32, of Essex, stacking pallets against the outside of the store during a break-in on Christmas Day. Police say he smashed the window with a bat and took a few steps inside before the alarm scared him off. Police say he also broke the door at nearby Toys R Us the same day. Giffin was supposed to answer to those two burglary charges later this month.

Federal court documents show he's no stranger to the courtroom. Giffin pleaded guilty to robbing the Randolph National Bank in Williamstown back in 2010. He served two years in federal prison, had to pay more than $5,000 in restitution and was ordered to get substance abuse and mental health treatment.

As a federal parolee, he was busted again just before Christmas in 2014. This time, he broke into Positive Pie in Montpelier. He was arrested in March 2015.

We checked with Corrections and found in state charges alone, Giffin has multiple convictions for burglary, unlawful mischief, cocaine possession, resisting arrest, petit larceny, grand larceny, DUI, DLS and violating an abuse prevention order.

Giffin's DOC supervision ended in November.