BRATTLEBORO — A man shot dead by police Tuesday night in West Brattleboro has been officially identified as the ex-boyfriend of a woman found dead in her truck on Elliot Street in the same town earlier that day.
According to information from the Vermont State Police, a trooper, while conducting a neighborhood canvas, spotted Matthew Davis, 34, of Fitchburg, Mass., walking along Western Avenue at about 7:45 p.m.
Other troopers and officers with the Brattleboro Police Department responded to the area where they pursued Davis into a wooded area between Bonnyvale Road and South Street southwest of Western Avenue.
Two troopers and a Brattleboro police officer fired their weapons in the course of the encounter with Davis, who was armed with a knife.
Police rendered first aid to Davis following the shooting and called for EMS personnel to respond, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. The knife was located near Davis’s body. No other injuries were reported.
An investigation is ongoing into the shooting of Davis, and those who discharged their weapons were placed on paid administrative leave. Their names have not yet been released.
Law enforcement was hoping to speak to Davis, who was described as dangerous during a Vermont State Police press briefing about two hours before Davis was located, in connection with the death of Mary Anderson, 23, of Harvard, Mass.
Anderson’s body had been found in her truck by Brattleboro police officers at 12:55 on Tuesday morning on Elliot Street next to Thomas Lynch Park. Her cause of death will be determined by the state medical examiner’s office, which is expected to conduct an autopsy Wednesday morning.
Detectives with Vermont State Police Criminal Division, who are assigned to offices from elsewhere in the state to avoid potential conflicts of interest, are conducting the investigation into the officer-involved shooting of Davis. When the Vermont State Police investigation is complete, the case will be turned over to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the relevant State’s Attorney’s Office for independent reviews of the police use of deadly force.
In 2010, Davis was sentenced to four to nine years in prison after stabbing the lover of Davis’ ex-girlfriend, who is the mother to two of his children. That incident happened in Pittsfield, Mass.