Three women found dead in a Vermont home Saturday were relatives of a woman arrested a day earlier in the fatal shooting of a state social worker who handled the case in which she lost custody of her daughter, state police said.
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In a statement, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin said, “The Vermont state police are working collaboratively with the Barre and Berlin police, and the investigation remains ongoing”.
“We all know that the incidents have been horrific and completely heartbreaking”, the governor stated after coming back from trip in Nova Scotia upon listening to of the deaths.
Authorities Saturday declined to fill in many details about the crimes.
Herring was arrested on a murder charge in Lara Sobel’s death and is to be arraigned Monday.
The identity of the female employee, who had just left a DCF office when she was shot, was being withheld pending notification of her family.
The social worker, 48-year-old Lara Sobel, was shot and killed outside state offices in Barre on Friday afternoon. The subsequent morning, a 911 name introduced officers to a Berlin house, the place they discovered three ladies lifeless. Police said at least two of the women appeared to have been shot. Autopsies will probably be carried out. The cousins were in their 40s, and the aunt in her 70s; the three were killed before Sobel’s life was taken, Shumlin said. “I can not remember, in my lifetime, four people being murdered by the same alleged perpetrator”.
He said it was his understanding following conversations with relatives that Herring’s father had been one of 16 siblings in a very large family.
A man who said he cousin lives in the home said the news of the deaths rattled his tight-knit family.
In the statement released Saturday, Sobel’s family thanked the community for its kindness during their ordeal and asked others to respect their privacy. Sobel was instrumental in having Herring’s 9-year-old daughter removed from her custody earlier.
The shooting happened outside the Department for Children and Families’ offices.
Social workers have bravely entered into the worst of homes, all in the interest of an abused child, often without protection from the local law enforcement, said Campbell.
Friends of Sobel said she had been a very experienced social worker with over 14 years of providing public service for families and children.
Officers stated that within the wake of the deaths, counseling and different help can be made obtainable to state staff. Vermonters should know that there is no indication of a broader threat at this time to state employees or the general public.
A particular legislative committee was set as much as examine the division system after the deaths final yr of two toddlers who had been concerned with DCF.
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Following the investigation, Vermont passed a law designed to improve communication between the department, law enforcement, and the courts.
