On the night of December 1, 2022, at about 10:20 p.m., Vermont State Police responded to reports of shots fired on Griggs Road in Eden and found 66-year-old David Peatman with a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. An autopsy at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington confirmed the death was a homicide. Peatman was a licensed land surveyor described by friends and family as energetic and gregarious.

Investigators say the people involved fled the scene and that the shooting appeared targeted, with no wider threat to the community. Law enforcement identified a person of interest, 44-year-old Shawn Allen Rich of St. Johnsbury, who was taken into custody the same day on unrelated charges including cocaine possession and resisting arrest. A judge released Rich on $300 bail; he subsequently failed to appear for two scheduled court dates. No arrests have been announced in connection with Peatman’s killing and the investigation remains active.

If anyone has information about what happened on Griggs Road that night, please share it with the Vermont State Police.