►
Description
From BPD:
Following inquiries from several media partners, the BPD holds a press conference about the arrest of Von Simmonds for the murder of Abubakar Sharrif. Mr. Simmonds was arraigned this morning and will continue to be held without bail pending further hearings.
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A
Good
afternoon,
everybody
I
am
here
simply
give
some
additional
information
about
the
arrest.
Last
excuse
me
yesterday
afternoon
of
Vaughn
Simmons,
whom
we
allege
committed:
the
murder
of
Abu
Bakr
Sharif
at
Paisano's
Pizza
on
Sunday
morning,
the
affidavit
has
been
filed
with
the
court
and
I
think
that
has
the
the
strongest
narrative.
What
we
believe
happened
is
this.
A
We
believe
that
there
were
several
people
inside
the
pizzeria
that
night
among
them
were
Javon
Montgomery,
25,
Abdi,
Rahman,
Mohammed,
20,
Ibrahim,
bangura,
20,
Mr,
Sharif
and
also
Mr
Simmons.
An
altercation
began
between
Javon
Montgomery
Abdul,
Rahman,
Muhammad
and
Ibrahim
bangora.
That
altercation
was
a
physical
altercation.
It
was
a
fight
it
moved
around
within
the
restaurant.
During
the
fight
it
appears
that
Mr
Sharif
was
actually
attempting
to
prevent
the
fight
from
escalating
move.
A
People
part
at
some
point
during
the
fight
Mr
Simmons,
who
was
not
apparently
involved
in
the
fight,
and
we
do
not
currently
believe
was
associated
with
any
of
the
people
involved,
went
behind
the
restaurant
counter
obtained
a
knife
from
inside
the
restaurant
Strode
forward
with
that
knife
and
stabbed
Mr
Sharif
when
his
his
back
was
turned
to
Mr
Simmons.
He
Mr
Simmons
grabbed
the
jacket,
pulled
Mr
Sharif
around
and
put
the
knife
into
Mr
Sharif
killing
him.
A
A
This
investigation
was
a
thorough
and
strong
investigation
by
the
women
and
men
in
the
Burlington
Police
Department's
detective
unit
particularly
lead
investigator
detective
Erica,
Shaler,
terrific
work
too
by
our
iD
Tech
unit
to
go
through
all
these
pieces
and
then
the
entirety
investigation
team
with
regard
to
going
through
a
lot
of
video
witness
interviews,
interviews
with
people
who
are
now
going
to
potentially
be
cited
for
participation
in
that
fight.
But
the
primary
object
here
was
to
identify
the
believed
murderer.
That
was
someone
we
did
not
have
immediate
knowledge
of.
A
It
took
time
to
identify
that
individual.
We
were
assisted
by
tips
from
the
public.
We
were
assisted
by
Partners
in
the
DMV
former
officers
of
this
department
who
knew
the
suspect
from
criminal
history's
past,
and
we
were
able
to
use
a
excellent
amounts
of
video
both
in
the
location
and
throughout
the
city.
A
They
did
a
lot
of
really
good
work
to
find
this
suspect
and
then
ultimately
make
a
safe
and
peaceful
apprehension
of
this
suspect
as
well
to
have
put
a
cap
on
what
is
horribly,
our
fifth
murder
of
the
year
to
have
done
it
quickly
to
have
done
it
safely
is
commendable
and
I
am
incredibly
proud
of
the
men
and
women
I'm.
Also
very,
very
sorry,
for
the
family
of
Mr
Sharif
I
offered
in
a
public
statement
and
I
offer
again
condolences
to
anyone
who
is
bereaved
by
his
passing
with
that.
A
B
Having
read
through
the
affidavit
and
and
all
of
that-
and
you
mentioned
as
well-
Mr
Sharif,
you
know
in
his
attempts
to
multiple
times
listed
in
here,
to
to
try
and
break
up
this
fight.
I
mean
was
this
individual
in
the
wrong
place
at
the
wrong
time,
I
mean
how
how
do
we
associate
the
two
groups
that
were
essentially
growing
in
this
Pizzeria
Mr.
C
B
A
You
see
in
the
affidavit
their
statements
are
that
they
didn't
oh
I'm,
sorry
other
indications
throughout
the
city.
I
thought
you
would
that
they
knew
one
another
I
apologize
for
that
cam
other
violence
throughout
the
city,
Mr
Montgomery
25
has
86
police
records.
Those
include
records
of
arrests
for
robbery,
burglary,
domestic
assault,
lewd
and
lascivious
conduct
and
retail
theft,
among
others,
Abdul
Rahman
Mohammed
20
has
66
police
records,
including
records
of
arrests
for
aggravated
assault,
robberies,
multiple
simple
assaults,
sexual
assault,
vandalism,
trespass
and
larceny.
A
He
was
a
participant
in
the
three-way
gunfight
at
Simon's
on
July
31st
of
2021
Ibraham
bangora
20
has
52
police
records,
including
records
of
arrests
for
aggravated
assault,
multiple
robberies,
DUI
burglary,
larceny,
disorderly
conduct.
He
too
was
involved
in
a
previous
gunfire
incident
in
the
city
in
which
he
was
pointing
a
weapon
at
random
strangers
on
Church
Street
during
bar
closing
and
ultimately
discharged
the
weapon
at
that
time
as
well.
A
Although
no
one
was
struck
that
occurred
on
August
21st
of
2021,
so
the
answer
to
whether
or
not
these
individuals
have
been
involved
in
Prior
acts
of
violence
throughout
the
city
is
a
pretty
resounding.
Yes,
they've
been
arrested
multiple
times
for
these
as
well,
but
they
were
in
this
bar
on
that.
Excuse
me
in
this
Pizzeria
on
this
night.
A
D
A
D
A
The
psychic,
so
our
our
object
in
this
case
was
to
to
to
develop
information
about
who
our
stabber
was.
The
video
had
made
clear.
We
knew
who
we
knew,
that
a
single
party
had
been
responsible
for
this
murder
with
regard
to
the
use
of
the
knife
and
our
object
and
primary
goal
was
to
find
out
who
that
was
and
make
an
apprehension
for
that.
Now
that
that
has
happened,
we
are
going
to
be
issuing
citations
to
the
other
people
that
were
involved
in
that
for
disorderly
conduct.
A
D
A
D
There
is
some
suggestion
in
the
affidavit
that
the
that
the
fight
may
have
involved
a
disagreement
over
another
person,
a
woman
who
is
who
is
there?
It's
not
totally
clear
to
me,
but
and
then
there's
also
a
description
of
a
second
fight
of
some
kind
outside
the
restaurant.
Do
you
have
any
other
information
about
why
this
started
or
if
it
was
related
to
the
one
outside
the
restaurant.
E
A
D
F
F
C
A
A
B
And
interviews
you
know
in
previous,
you
know,
murders
and
homicide
investigations.
Department
has
often
said
that
folks
have
not
been
forthcoming
with
information.
That
doesn't
seem
like
the
case
here.
Would
you
say
folks
were
pretty
forthcoming,
whether
it
be
Witnesses
or
those
that
were
actually
involved
in
in
fight
well.
A
I
think
you
can
read
the
affidavit
and
sort
of
understand
for
yourself
that
our
participants
were
not
all
that
forthcoming.
They
were,
they
made
statements
eventually,
but
oftentimes
denied
being
there.
One
of
those
individuals
was
apprehended.
The
night
of
the
incident
was
detained,
was
interviewed
and
was
absolutely
not
forthcoming,
despite
the
fact
that
an
acquaintance
a
friend,
a
colleague
somebody
with
whom
he
was
Associated
over
many
years,
had
been
murdered.
A
D
A
B
A
B
The
question
we
often
ask
too,
is
you
know
what
what
the
public
should
feel
about?
This
kind
of
an
incident
I
mean
obviously
bar
closing
time
very
busy,
downtown
lots
of
folks
outside
and
all
of
a
sudden,
a
fight
like
this
breaks
out
and
somebody
ends
up
stabbed
I
mean
what
do
you
say
for
the
public
in
such
that
are
around
here
at
that
time,
donor
Governor
population,
so.
A
What
caused
these
folks
to
still
be
out
and
to
sort
of
congregate
at
the
restaurant
is,
is
unknown,
I'll,
be
frank
and
say
that
even
if
this
agency
were
fully
staffed,
I,
don't
believe
that
we
would
have
necessarily
been
out
in
force
at
that
point.
Our
evening
shift
ends
at
02
45
in
the
morning,
because
that
is
enough
time
for
bar
closing
generally
to
close,
and
so
officers
are
on.
A
You'd
be
left
with
the
five
officers
back
then
that
were
on
the
midnight
shift,
as
opposed
to
the
one
to
two
that
are
on
it
now,
but
even
so,
they
would
be
gone
by
that
point,
and
even
when
there's
a
few
people
still
Milling
about
generally
officers,
do
go
what
we
call
10
8,
meaning
that
they
are
back
in
their
Cruisers
and
available
for
patrol.
So
obviously
we
were
able
to
respond
to
this
quite
quickly.
A
A
A
A
Cam
asked
this
question
I
believe
a
couple
days
ago
we
have
had
a
relatively
small
number
of
sign.
Ups,
there
have
been
I
think
that
we,
you
know
we
allocated
upwards
of
plus
sixty
thousand
dollars.
We
spent
about
four
in
the
month
of
October
I,
haven't
gotten
the
bill
for
November
yet,
but
as
I
understand
it,
it
was
a
relatively
small
number
of
shifts.
Total
that
were
worked.
A
There
are
for
I,
just
actually
spoke
to
a
trooper.
Last
night,
a
former
employee
of
this
agency
who's
a
trooper,
now
ran
into
him
at
a
a
an
event,
and
his
statement
was
that
a
lot
of
it
had
to
do
with
travel
time.
Just
very
few
Troopers
live
in
the
immediate
area
of
Burlington,
and
it's
just
not
convenient
for
them
to
come
here,
even
though
they
get
paid
for
travel
and
they
get
paid
by
us.
A
That's
been
something
I've
seen
online
about
the
notion
of
whether
or
not
the
state
should
be
paying
for
Burlington
to
be
policed,
I
think
at
times
that's
a
belief
that
it
should
there.
For
example,
you
know
when
we
ask
Troopers
to
assist
us,
for
example,
with
the
marathon
or
providing
security
for
large-scale
events
that
are
going
to
be
things
that
aren't
just
about
Burlington
but
are
really
Vermont
events,
our
Vermont
State
Police
partners
are
there
and
they
are
there
on
the
city.
A
A
E
A
You
know
all
these
pieces
fit
together
and,
and
we
did
Leverage
again
assistance
from
that
former
member
of
our
department,
who's
who's,
now
a
lieutenant
with
the
with
the
DMV.
He
was
a
drug
Sergeant
here
for
a
long
time
with
someone
who
really
knew
the
the
players,
as
it
were,
on
the
Burlington
board.
C
So
you
touched
on
a
little
bit
earlier.
This
is
the
fifth
homicide
and
what's
been
pretty
violent
here
here
in
Burlington,
but
vpu
is
once
again
apprehended
violent
suspects
and
have
placed
charged
on
that.
You
just
got
to
speak,
whether
it's
not
the
officers
or
the
department.
Do
you
guys
kind
of
continue
in
a
timely
manner
to
get
these
online
yeah.
A
I
appreciate
that
question.
You
know
we
have
over
the
past
year
and
it's
it's.
It
goes
into
the
previous
years
too,
but
this
year
alone
of
gunfire
incidents
in
which
a
personal
struck,
I.E
shootings,
we've
solved
more
than
80
percent
of
them
of
the
homicides
that
have
occurred
this
year,
the
five
murders
that
we
have
experienced
suffered
and-
and
it's
not
just
us
it's
our
city-
it
is
our
neighbors.
It
is
most
importantly,
the
victims
and
their
families
who
have
suffered
these
horrible
crimes.
A
Every
single
one
of
them
has
had
a
resolution
through
investigation
and
through
just
incredible
work.
We
have
an
absolutely
world-class
detective
Bureau.
It
is
as
as
good
as
any
that
I
ever
saw
working
in
New,
York
City.
It
is
extraordinary.
The
work
that
they're
able
to
do
they
are
I
have
kept
that
part
of
our
Police
Department
staffed
in
the
face
of
of
many
calls
to
divert
those
resources
back
to
patrol
which
is
technically
the
core
competency
of
any
police
agency
and
the
reason
I
have
pushed
back
against.
A
Those
calls
is
because
of
the
incredible
work
they
do
and
the
importance
of
what
they
do
and
unfortunately,
in
this
year
we
have
seen
the
need
for
the
work
that
they
do.
We
have
had
25
gunfire
incidents
this
year,
that
is
Far
and
Away.
More
than
any
we've
ever
experienced.
Five
homicides
as
near
as
I
can
tell
is
the
most
the
city
has
ever
experienced.
Certainly
it's
the
most
since
1960,
where
I
can
have
effective
records.
A
I
would
say
we're
not
very
close.
I
would
say
those
those
others
that
are
that
do
involve
somebody
being
struck
are.
Nevertheless,
we
don't
have
Cooperative
victims.
We
don't
have
much
in
the
way
of
evidence.
What
we
would
call
solvability
factors
are
not
there.
Uncooperative
victims
is
in
fact
a
kind
of
closure
under
in
the
detective
Bureau,
and
so
at
some
point
we
will
probably
close
those
for
lack
of
a
Cooperative
victim,
in
other
words,
somebody
who
was
shot
and
knows
who
shot.
That
person
knows
who
shot
him
and
won't
be.
A
A
B
One
last
one
that
I
have
is,
you
know,
obviously
the
five
homicides
you
know
one
is
a
lot
and
you've
got
families
and,
and
those
that
you
know,
know
these
people
and
love
these
people
essentially
I
mean
for
for
those
folks
to
have
closure
in
all
of
those
incidents
so
far
this
year.
What
does
that
mean
for
you
and
what
does
that
mean
for
families
that
are
impacted
by
these
I.
A
I
know
for
a
fact
that
the
because
of
discussions
I've
had
with
some
family
members
that
the
notion
of
closure
is
Meaningful.
How
meaningful
is
it
when
you're,
faced
with
with
a
terrible
terrible
loss,
I'm
hopeful
that
at
some
point,
that's
some
kind
of
cons
in
a
consolation
down
the
road
I
think
in
the
moment
it
it
is.
It
is
a
part
of
what
they're
feeling,
but
it's
certainly
not
the
controlling
part.
Nothing
you!
Nothing
we
do
here
can
bring
back
a
lost
loved
one.