On a tragic day in Newport, Vermont, the life of 38-year-old Kevin Atkins, a Caucasian male, was cut short in a violent encounter. The incident unfolded on May 4, 2020, at a residence on School Street where Atkins lived with his wife, Nicole Atkins, and her parents. It was inside this home that a domestic dispute escalated to a fatal conclusion, forever altering the lives of the family within.
The perpetrator was identified by authorities as 51-year-old Paul Brown, who was both Kevin
Atkins's father-in-law and Nicole Atkins's stepfather. In the course of the dispute, Brown turned a firearm on his son-in-law and his stepdaughter. Kevin Atkins suffered fatal gunshot wounds to the head, neck, and torso and was pronounced deceased. His death was officially ruled a homicide by the Chief Medical Examiner's Office.
Nicole Atkins was also shot and sustained serious injuries to her neck and chest. Despite the severity of her wounds, she survived the attack and was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for treatment. In the immediate aftermath of the shootings, Paul Brown then took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The investigation by the Vermont State Police concluded that Brown was the sole perpetrator.
Present in the home at the time of the shooting were three young children, all of whom were thankfully unharmed. The investigation determined the motive to be a domestic dispute. As the identified shooter was deceased, no arrests were made in connection with the murder of Kevin Atkins.
