A couple wanted in connection with a shooting early Saturday on Cape Cod, Mass., were taken into custody after their car was stopped by police along Interstate 295 in Bowdoin, according to Maine State Police.

State police, with help from Topsham police and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department, stopped the car at 9:30 a.m., said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Arrested were David Byron, 21, originally of Anson, and Leah Wiinikainen, 22, of Centerville, Mass. They did not try to resist arrest, McCausland said.

The shooting in Mashpee, Mass., happened around 3 a.m., said Police Chief Rodney Collins. He said Byron and Wiinikainen knew the victim, whose name has not been released.

The victim was in stable condition Saturday afternoon, he said.

Collins said his detectives learned that Byron’s mother lives in Anson and believed he might be fleeing in that direction. Collins said they asked Maine State Police to look for the car, although a request that police keep an eye out for the couple was sent throughout New England early Saturday.

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Collins said that while detectives were on the phone with Maine State Police, the car was spotted on I-295 and state police called back a short while later to say that the two were in custody.

McCausland said a state trooper first spotted the car heading north along the interstate in Freeport, but the stop wasn’t made until it had reached Bowdoin because police wanted to make sure they had enough officers on hand in case the couple resisted arrest.

Collins said Byron, whose last known address was Falmouth, Mass., will be charged in Massachusetts with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; assault to murder while armed; possession of a firearm without a license; and discharging a firearm with 500 feet of a dwelling. Wiinikainen will be charged as an accessory after the fact, he said.

Byron and Wiinikainen were taken to the Topsham Police Department for questioning, and are being held at the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset until a court hearing this week.

Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:

emurphy@pressherald.com

Joe Lawlor can be contacted at 791-6376 or at:

jlawlor@pressherald.com

Twitter: @joelawlorph


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