His name was Josh. He was 35 years old. His fellow occupiers have described him as a proud veteran, and a good soul.
Around 2:00 PM today, Josh shot himself at the Occupy Burlington encampment. He was taken to the local hospital, and was confirmed dead by a hospital spokesperson at 5:30, Eastern Standard Time. Police recovered a firearm inside of Josh's tent.
Occupiers have been told that the encampment will need to be closed off for 24 hours as a crime scene. They were told they could stay in the north side of the park until midnight. The occupiers left a meeting with public officials abruptly when told that the park would need to be closed.
Officials are planning rule changes because of the incident, and are considering a ban on tents.
A local Unitarian Universalist church has opened its doors to the occupiers, and will house them until the park is reopened. We'll update you tomorrow if we have more information.
Horace Bothyrood III covered this story earlier here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Here's a more in depth story: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/...