Police said a man shot dead by police in Springfield last Thursday was accelerating toward officers in a vehicle when they opened fire.
Vermont State Police said the man killed, James Crary, 36, was a resident of Newport, New Hampshire. State police detectives are continuing to investigate the shooting.
According to a state police press release, Springfield Police Officer Vincent T. Franchi and Windsor County Sheriff’s Deputy Bryan Jalava both opened fire on Crary using department-issued firearms. The officers were standing outside their vehicles when Crary accelerated toward them, the release stated.
According to the release, Franchi and Jalava arrived at 78 Valley Street in Springfield around 9:30 p.m. Thursday as part of an investigation. They encountered Crary in a vehicle outside a home there.
Crary was pronounced dead on scene. State police then responded and began investigating the shooting, according to the release. Crary’s cause of death was determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to be gunshot wounds to the head, and his death is considered a homicide.
Franchi was hired by the Springfield Police Department as a full-time officer in August 2020 and worked in that role until March 2024. He returned to the department as a full-time officer in April 2025, according to state police.
Jalava began work as a full-time officer with the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department in May 2024 after beginning his career with the Hinsdale Police Department in New Hampshire in 2016, and later working for the Windham County Sheriff’s Department, according to state police.
Both officers have been placed on paid leave while the investigation continues.
Vermont State Police said they were not involved in the investigation that brought Franchi and Jalava to the scene.
Vermont State Police said they will turn over the results of the investigation to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the appropriate state’s attorney’s office for review of the deadly use of force.
