Police identify man who shot self at Vermont protest

(Reuters) - The man who shot himself at an Occupy protest camp in downtown Burlington, Vermont, this week was 35 years old, homeless and had briefly trained to be in the Army, police said on Friday.

Joshua Pfenning apparently shot himself in the head inside a tent at the encampment in City Hall Park on Thursday afternoon and later died at a city hospital, Burlington Police Chief Michael Schirling said in a statement.

After the shooting, police banned camping at the park because of safety concerns.

Police have stopped short of calling Pfenning's death suicide, but have said witnesses indicated the shooting was self-inflicted. Three people were in the tent with Pfenning at the time of the shooting.

Schirling said a preliminary investigation found Pfenning had consumed a large quantity of alcohol before the shooting and at some point just before the fatal shot had pointed a gun and threatened another person inside the tent.

The gun, which had been stolen two years ago, was found at the scene and taken into police custody.

Citing press reports that Pfenning was a military veteran, Schirling said the man previously had been discharged from the Army after two weeks of boot camp "for medical and other reasons."

Protesters have camped at the park since late October in demonstrations in an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street protests against perceived financial inequalities.

The park remains open from morning to midnight in areas outside the portion closed for the shooting investigation.

Occupy Burlington assembly members said people had temporarily relocated to a local church, where some spent the night Thursday. They planned a vigil for Pfenning on Friday.

An autopsy was performed Friday on Pfenning and a final report could take several weeks, officials said.

(Reporting by Zach Howard. Editing by Peter Bohan)