Spectator dies after melee at middle school basketball game in Vermont

ALBURGH, Vt. (AP) — A brawl broke out among spectators at a middle school basketball game in northern Vermont, and a man involved in the fight died, police said.

Vermont 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, 60, sought medical attention, police said. He was taken by ambulance to the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans, where he was pronounced dead.

Giroux’s death is being investigated by state police and the Grand Isle state’s attorney’s office. The office of the Vermont medical examiner 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.