By PATRICK WHITTLE and DAVID SHARP (Associated Press)
BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — Four individuals had been fatally shot at a home in Maine on Tuesday shortly earlier than gunfire wounded three others on a busy freeway, in a pair of crimes which are linked, authorities stated. One particular person was in custody.
Police closed a portion of the interstate freeway and residents and companies within the space had been ordered to shelter in place for about 90 minutes earlier than authorities decided there was no risk to most people.
The shootings are amongst a spate of latest mass killings which have shaken communities each massive and small, together with a Christian elementary college in Nashville, Tennessee; a financial institution in Louisville, Kentucky and a Sweet 16 celebration in a small metropolis in Alabama.
In Maine, police declined to debate attainable motive or determine the particular person in custody or the taking pictures victims. One of the freeway victims was critically wounded, they stated.
The crimes started in rural Bowdoin, the place the our bodies had been discovered, and continued with gunfire 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the south on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth, police stated.
Law enforcement officers, some carrying lengthy rifles, might be seen canvassing areas close to the freeway after the shootings. At one level, closely armed officers at an off-ramp peered contained in the trunk of a automotive that had obvious bullet holes within the windshield. Police stated an individual of curiosity was detained, and witnesses noticed one particular person in handcuffs.
In Bowdoin, a farming group with about 3,000 residents, yellow crime tape hung the place the shootings came about, in a house flanked by woods on the finish of an extended, gravel driveway. About 10 marked and unmarked legislation enforcement autos and a criminal offense scene van had been parked exterior, and investigators moved concerning the scene.
At one level, a girl spoke to police exterior the home earlier than dropping to her knees and sobbing. Later, hearses had been seen leaving from the driveway.
The city of Bowdoin has no affiliation with Bowdoin College, which is situated about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away, within the city of Brunswick.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills tweeted her concern for the “families, friends and loved ones of those impacted by this tragedy.” She stated she was praying for the injured.
“Like people across Maine, I am shocked and deeply saddened. Acts of violence like we experienced today shake our state and our communities to the core,” she stated.
In Yarmouth, visitors backed up on the interstate as police shut down the southbound lanes. The freeway reopened later Tuesday, aside from one exit the place the police had been inspecting the automotive.
Employees at Water Treatment Equipment Inc., a enterprise close to the freeway, locked the doorways and pulled down the shades after being alerted to the lockdown, which lasted about an hour and a half, supervisor Kim Snyder stated. Workers noticed vehicles backing up on the freeway, together with police vehicles, ambulances and fireplace vans.
“It definitely shifted the day, and the worry kicked in,” she stated. “They hadn’t caught the active shooter. We didn’t know what was going on.”
Lenora Felker, who works close to the freeway at Rosemont Market and Bakery, stated she sensed one thing was afoot when individuals began streaming in, saying the freeway was closed, adopted by dozens of legislation enforcement officers who descended on the realm.
Officers went enterprise to enterprise asking if they’d seen “anyone that was wet and muddy fleeing,” Felker stated. But she knew all the shoppers and didn’t see something uncommon, she stated.
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Sharp reported from Portland. Associated Press photographer Robert Bukaty in Bowdoin and writers Michael Casey and Steve LeBlanc in Boston contributed to this report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”