Michael Reis, 24, of New Sharon, was shot and killed in the driveway of a Wilton home, Maine State Police said Wednesday morning, but released few other details.
Lt. Brian McDonough of the state police said at a news conference at the scene late Wednesday morning that police have identified the shooter, but didn’t release his name. McDonough wouldn’t comment on the circumstances surrounding the shooting, but said police don’t believe the public is in danger.
It was the state’s sixth homicide of the year, according to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. Maine usually has between 20 to 25 homicides in a year.
The shooting at 259 Weld Road in Wilton has been under investigation by Maine State Police since early Wednesday morning.
McDonough of the state police said someone made a 911 call from the residence at 12:45 a.m. reporting that someone had been shot. He said there were several people at the residence at the time of the shooting, and they are cooperating with the investigation. Police wouldn’t release the names of those who had been at the scene or say what their relationship to Reis or the alleged shooter was.
McDonough said that Reis was taken to the hospital by a friend after he was shot, where he was pronounced dead. McCausland later confirmed that the hospital was Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, about 10 minutes from the scene.
A neighbor, David Crockett Jr., said he woke up around 2 a.m. and saw police next door.
Crockett said he was not sure who lived at the mobile home, though it appeared whoever lived there was moving on Tuesday. He said earlier in the day several truckloads of furniture were being moved from the home.
The mobile home is owned by Alan Magrath, according to town records. It was not clear if Magrath lived at the mobile home or was renting it out.
No one has been arrested or charged in connection to the shooting, McDonough said.
“I don’t think anyone else is in danger here,” he said. “We’re starting to get a feeling of what took place.”
McCausland said that an autopsy is underway on Reis at the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta.
McCausland said in a news release that “detectives plan to conduct a number of interviews to determine the circumstances of the shooting.” He said the Farmington Police Department is helping with the interviews.
A pool of blood marked the dirt driveway of the mobile home and blood spatter was visible about 100 feet down the center of the road toward town at mid-morning Wednesday as state police investigators worked at the scene. McDonough would not comment on the blood.
Weld Road is Route 156, and the area where the shooting took place is outside of town, near the Wilson Lake Country Club — a quiet wooded neighborhood of modest homes about 100 yards apart from each other.
No other information was released at the news conference, and McDonough said there probably wouldn’t be any more information available Wednesday. He said investigators would be at the scene throughout the day processing evidence and talking to neighbors.
Lauren Abbate — 861-9252
Twitter: @Lauren_M_Abbate
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