Spectator dies after melee at Vermont middle school hoops game

Authored by espn.com and submitted by BlacktoseIntolerant

ALBURGH, Vt. -- A brawl broke out among spectators at a middle school basketball game in northern Vermont, and a 60-year-old man who participated in the fight died, police said.

State troopers were called to the Alburgh Community Education Center just before 7 p.m. Tuesday after a report of a large fight involving spectators during a seventh- and eighth-grade boys basketball game between Alburgh and St. Albans.

The fight ended before troopers arrived, and many of the participants had left. Russell Giroux, of Alburgh, sought medical attention, police said. He was taken by ambulance to the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans, where he was pronounced dead.

Jay Nichols, the executive director of the Vermont Principals' Association, said in a statement that the group, which oversees school sports in the state, had no information about the event beyond what the authorities provided.

"Although we can not speak specifically about the events at this individual game, we would like to once again emphasize that middle and high school sports are educational and are for the benefit of the student-athletes," he said. "Spectators that cannot behave appropriately can be barred from events and can face criminal charges."

The superintendent of the Grand Isle Supervisory Union, which includes Alburgh, did not respond to a Wednesday request for comment.

The state police and Grand Isle state's attorney's office are investigating Giroux's death. The state medical examiner's office will conduct an autopsy.

Alburgh is a town of about 2,100 in northwestern Vermont. It is surrounded on three sides by Lake Champlain. The northern part of the community forms part of the border with Canada.

FatherlyAdvice1921 on February 2nd, 2023 at 02:08 UTC »

Man. I had a boss back in the day, he was like 42 and we were all at work and he was bragging about some bar fight he got in a couple weeks back where he knocked the guy out. Literally the next week police swarm the place and arrest him. The guy he knocked out died and the whole thing was on video. Dude was a youth softball coach (the one who died). Sad to see two lives snuffed out over probably nothing.

yohohoanabottleofrum on February 1st, 2023 at 17:53 UTC »

I mean we don't have details yet. It's possible that he didn't start anything but was killed trying to intervene or stop something. Doesn't mean idiots don't fight about kids' sports, but this has very few details. I have to imagine they'll come out pretty quickly though.

HeightDizzy6656 on February 1st, 2023 at 16:47 UTC »

Imagine living all these years only to die in such a ridiculous way.. I’m only 22 and I can’t imagine after all the years I lived to die randomly in vain