SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — A man who was found shot dead near the side of the road in Springfield has been identified as 38-year-old Springfield resident Justin Gilliam, according to Vermont State Police. Gilliam’s body was discovered on Greeley Road on Monday afternoon.
State police said that the state medical examiner determined that Gilliam died from a gun shot wound to the head. Authorities have ruled his death a homicide. Gilliam’s body was found after VSP received a call just after noon from a nearby resident reporting that what appeared to be the body of a deceased adult alongside the road.
The Springfield area has been the center of multiple shootings in recent months, which authorities have attributed to the fentanyl epidemic, rising gun violence and understaffed and stretched police departments to field enough officers for patrols.