Burlington, VT — A shooting occurred inside a residence on St. Louis Street shortly before the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve. The Burlington Police Department arrived at the scene to find one person injured from the gunfire but their injuries were non-threatening.

Police said the suspect, Bonide Wilondja Badibanga, fled the scene prior. He is being sought on charges of attempted murder. Badibanga has been arrested as many as sixteen times over the last two years, Burlignton police said.

“We ended 2021 with our 14th gunfire incident,” said acting Chief of Police Jon Murad. “As far
as we know from past tracking, this is an awful new record for a city that usually sees two such
incidents per year. I was working the New Year’s Eve shift and responded to this incident
myself, and I am immensely proud of the work done by the patrol officers who secured and
processed the initial scene, as well as the detectives personnel who were called in from their
personal New Years Eves to collect evidence and interview victims and witnesses, and the
dispatchers who managed calls on a very busy night. Less than an hour after this attempted
murder we began 2022 with a domestic disturbance, a DUI, and an assault. In all, there were
more than a dozen incidents between midnight and when the New Year’s Day day shift began.
Burlington’s team handled it all.”

Anyone with information on Badibanga or the incident is asked to call Detective Moyer at 802-658-2704.