ST JOHNSBURY, VT (WWLP) – A Chicopee man is facing charges of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault in connection to a shooting in Vermont Tuesday night.
According to Vermont State Police, police received a report of a shooting around 10:27 p.m. in the parking lot of a Maplefield store. There was allegedly a dispute between the suspect, 40-year-old Felipe Cotto Jr. of Chicopee, and the victim, 36-year-old Nathan Smires of Barnet, Vermont. Police believe they knew each other.
When officers arrived, Smires was suffering from a gunshot wound and was taken to Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury but was later transferred to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire for serious injuries.
On Wednesday, police executed a search warrant at a home in Lyndon, Vermont, and arrested Cotto Jr. and 21-year-old Casey Jean Squires of Sheffield, Vermont.
Felipe Cotto Jr., 40, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, is seen in this mug shot taken Wednesday, July 6, 2022, at the Vermont State Police barracks in St. Johnsbury. 
Casey Jean Squires, 21, of Sheffield, Vermont, is seen in this mug shot taken Wednesday, July 6, 2022, at the Vermont State Police barracks in St. Johnsbury.
Cotto Jr. is facing the following charges:
- Attempted second-degree murder
- Aggravated assault
Squires is facing the following charges:
- Accessory to attempted second-degree murder
- Accessory to aggravated assault
Cotto Jr. will be held without bail and Squires will be held with a bail of $25,000. Both are due back in court on Thursday for arraignment.
