FARMINGTON — A Farmington man with a long history of run-ins with police was shot and killed by a police officer Saturday morning outside the town’s municipal building, a spokeswoman for the Maine Attorney General’s Office said.

Spokeswoman Brenda Kielty said 28-year-old Justin Crowley-Smilek was shot by Farmington police Officer Ryan Rosie.

Crowley-Smilek is the same man who was arrested in February 2010 for taking a concealed weapon — a loaded .45-caliber handgun — to a University of Maine at Farmington basketball game inside the college’s Dearborn Gymnasium.

Kielty said Crowley-Smilek was armed with a large knife just after 11 a.m. Saturday when he was approached by police outside the police station.

“It was an armed confrontation,” Kielty said. “Several rounds were shot.”

Crowley-Smilek came to the municipal building and used a phone outside the building to call the police department for help, police Chief Jack Peck told the Sun Journal of Lewiston. The building is on U.S. Route 2, also known as Farmington Falls Road.

When an officer came out to see him, Crowley-Smilek came after him threateningly, Peck said. The officer, Rosie, shot him.

Leon Heckbert, who was working at his garage across the street from the shooting, said he heard four gunshots. He then saw two police officers, one with his gun drawn, standing over what appeared to be a body on the town office parking lot, according to the Sun Journal report.

Kielty said the Attorney’s General’s Office, Maine State Police, Farmington police and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner are investigating the shooting. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, when a cause and manner of death can be determined.

Additional details of the shooting were not released Saturday.

Crowley-Smilek’s name first appears in newspaper archives in March 2005, when a published report said he had joined the U.S. Army under the delayed entry program. The enlistment gave him the option to learn a new skill and become eligible to receive as much as $50,000 toward a college education. He also qualified for a $15,000 enlistment bonus.

Crowley-Smilek reported to Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga., for basic training, according to the report. He was the son of Ruth Crowley of Portland, Ore., and Michael Smilek of Farmington.

In October 2007, Crowley-Smilek was arrested on charges of operating after suspension, criminal mischief and violation of conditions of bail. He was arrested again in 2009 on a charge of violating the conditions of his release, according to newspaper archives.

In April 2010, Crowley Smilek pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon without a permit in connection with the incident at UMF a month earlier. He served five days in jail, was fined $500 dollars and was ordered to perform 15 hours of community service, according to published reports.

He was arrested again in January of this year for allegedly assaulting an intoxicated man who had been sleeping in a car in downtown Farmington. A few days later, Crowley-Smilek was again arrested after Farmington police found a machete and 61 marijuana plants growing in his apartment. He was charged with violating conditions of release for possessing the machete and cultivating marijuana.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com