Police Responded to Report of 'Suspicious' Person. They Found a Vt. Politician and Family Dead

Authorities in Vermont are investigating the fatal shooting of a family of three who were found dead over the weekend. 

Brian Crossman Sr., 46, his wife Erica (Pawlusiak) Crossman, 41, and Erica’s son and Brian’s stepson, Colin Taft, 13, were found dead in their Pawlet, Vt., home early in the morning on Sunday, Sep. 15, the state police said in a statement at the time. 

Authorities were responding to a report of a “suspicious person” that led them to the home where they made the gruesome discovery, the statement said. 

The deaths have been ruled as homicides, per police. The couple died from gunshot wounds to the head and Taft died after being shot multiple times, the medical examiner determined, per the statement. Brian was also shot in the torso. 

Brian was a selectboard member in Pawlet, a town with fewer than 1400 residents.

According to the town government’s website, he worked as a Liaison to Buildings and Development, Liaison to Town Highway Department. Selectboard members are officials elected by residents to oversee expenditures and enact ordinances, per the Associated Press.  

On Tuesday, at their scheduled meeting, the selectboard issued a statement as Brian’s seat at the table was left with flowers and his name in a handwritten place card. Members and attendees observed a moment of silence in his honor, according to a video shared by CBS 6 Albany. 

“Brian Crossman was a friend and a neighbor, a hardworking community team member,” selectboard Chairman Mike Beecher said at the meeting, according to WCAX, NECN and the Associated Press. 

“This tragedy that struck him and his family also hit our community very hard,” he said, according to the video shared by WCAX and CBS 6 Albany. “We are all shaken and grieving.”  

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Authorities say the killings appear to be an isolated incident but have not said if they have a suspect. The investigation is ongoing.

State police is urging anyone with information that may be relevant to the case to contact the Rutland Barracks at 802-773-9101 or provide an anonymous tip online at https://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.