STARKS — An investigation into the shooting of a Starks man on his own property is complete, but a grand jury will determine whether there will be charges, the district attorney said on Friday.

Kerry Hebert, of Starks, was shot in the abdomen Oct. 31 by a man among a group of hunters at the end of a dirt road leading to the home he shares with his wife and two children, after a confrontation about hunting too close to the house.

In the six months since the incident, no one has been arrested and the names of the hunters have not been released.

“I would like to know what’s going to happen but don’t yet,” said Hebert in an interview in January as he continued to recover from a wound in his back left by the bullet passing through his body. Hebert and his wife, Jenn Hebert, who is also the town clerk, have declined repeated opportunities to talk about circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Somerset County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said her office has completed an investigation into the case, which was prolonged because of a need to process additional evidence, but that a grand jury will determine whether charges will be filed.

“Because there are different versions of what happened from different individuals, it was decided that we are going to take the case to an impartial panel,” said Chief Deputy Dale Lancaster of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department.

Lancaster said his department and the district attorney’s office want to make sure they proceed in a fair, proper fashion; so they are seeking the input of a grand jury.

Sometimes grand juries hear the cases of people already charged with a crime to determine whether the charge is accurate, and sometimes they weigh the evidence before any charges are made.

On the day he was shot, Hebert was driving home from taking his children to a Halloween party when he encountered a group of hunters walking along Mount Hunger Road, a dirt road that serves as the driveway to his home.

Hebert said he told the hunters they were too close to his home. He was shot at close range in the abdomen with a .30-06 caliber rifle after stopping to talk to two other men, also with the hunting party, farther up the road, said Erin Norton, a family friend who was with Hebert at the hospital at the time.

Hebert was taken by LifeFlight helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, where he underwent surgery for a gunshot wound through his body.

Lancaster said it is not unusual for the state crime laboratory to take six to eight months to process evidence and that his department has continued to follow the investigation since the shooting in October.

Maloney said her office received information from the crime laboratory in March but later found that some evidence had not been examined, so it decided to ask for additional tests.

The grand jury will determine in June whether one or more people will be charged, she said.

Rachel Ohm — 612-2368
rohm@mainetoday.com