DOVER, Vt. (AP) – The Vermont State Police and Dover police are investigating what is being called the untimely death of a 22-year-old man hit by two state police cruisers while lying in the travel lane of Route 100 early Sunday morning.

Late Sunday police identified the victim as Gerald Peterson of Dover.

Investigators have not yet determined if Peterson was alive before he was hit by the two cruisers, state police spokesman Lt. John Flannigan.

The troopers were headed south at about 2:50 a.m. after they had completed a traffic detail. They came around a curve and were unable to avoid what turned out to be Peterson laying in the roadway.

The first trooper tried to avoid the object and radioed the second trooper to watch out, but the second trooper still couldn’t avoid it.

Route 100 remained closed for much of the day Sunday, but it reopened at about 3:30.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday to determine the cause and manner of death.

AP-ES-12-09-07 1834EST