SCARBOROUGH — The 5-year-old girl who died in a shooting Monday evening was staying at her grandparents’ home with her parents and two older siblings, police said.
Elise Dorr died while her parents were house-sitting at the grandparents’ Milliken Road home in Scarborough, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday.
Maine State Police, who are investigating the girl’s death, have not provided any details about what led to the shooting.
McCausland said an autopsy is scheduled, but as of Tuesday evening he was not sure when it would be done.
Elise was the daughter of Todd and Virginia Dorr of Belfast, McCausland said. He said Elise’s grandparents were away, but her parents were in the house at the time of the shooting. Police have not said who owns the gun involved in the shooting.
No one answered the door at 17 Milliken Road on Tuesday morning or Tuesday evening. Police and rescue crews left during the overnight hours Monday, neighbors said. There was no crime scene tape around the house, which is on a quiet residential road.
The girl was shot in the home around 7:30 p.m. Monday and was taken by ambulance to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where she died, state police said.
“We’re not sure what happened. It appears to be a gunshot wound,” Sgt. Chris Harriman said in a Monday night news conference near the scene of the shooting.
GUNSHOT, THEN COMMOTION AT HOUSE
On Tuesday afternoon, McCausland said the family was cooperating fully with the investigation.
The Milliken Road neighborhood, a short stretch of road between Anjon’s Restaurant on Route 1 and Payne Road, was quiet Tuesday morning and evening.
Neighbors said a couple who appeared to be in their late 50s lived in the house, but they didn’t know much about them.
The home where the shooting happened is owned by the Donald W. Perkins Trust, according to the Scarborough assessor’s database.
Tim Bayley, who lives across the street, said he heard a gunshot around 7:30 p.m. and saw a commotion at the house until police and an ambulance arrived a few minutes later.
He said police were still at the home about midnight, but had gone by the time he woke up early Tuesday.
Elaine Politis, who lives next door, said the couple who live at 17 Milliken Road “were very good neighbors” and have lived in the house for at least 10 years. “They were our neighbors, but I didn’t know them well. We didn’t socialize with them,” she said.
Politis said she did not hear a gunshot Monday night.
PLEA FOR SUPPORT, NOT SQUABBLING
In a Facebook post Tuesday, Scarborough Police Chief Robbie Moulton urged the community to draw together after the shooting and to support the family and town emergency workers, who have been affected by the death of the little girl.
“There is an extended family in our community who woke up this morning feeling the loss of their little girl. Their lives will be forever changed,” Moulton wrote. “There are police officers, firefighters, EMTs and dispatchers who tried their hardest in vain last night and woke up this morning wanting to hug their children and families tight and not let go. I ask that you keep all of these people in your hearts over the next few days as they try to begin to heal.
“Unfortunately, we wake up, nearly every morning, to hear of tragedies that occur on a national or state level, and all too often the focus immediately turns away from the event and more to philosophical differences that pit neighbors against neighbors,” Moulton wrote. “Like any family, club or group, we will have differences of opinions, and that is healthy, but it does not need to result in anger, hate and disdain. While some people have already begun to speculate and use this as a platform to angrily promote their ideologies, I would like to ask that we as a community take pause and focus on healing.”
Moulton did not reveal any information about the investigation, but told residents there is no danger to the community.
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey contributed to this report.
Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at:
emurphy@pressherald.com
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