A burglary and car theft investigation led to a nearly nine-hour standoff in Old Town that ended Tuesday morning when police shot and killed the man sought in connection with the break-in and theft.
Investigators connected a burglary and theft at a home in Surry on Monday afternoon to Thomas A. Powell III, 31, of Old Town, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine State Police.
Local police in Old Town were on the lookout for Powell, and around midnight, they found the stolen vehicle outside Powell’s home on Bodwell Street on French Island, police said. After discovering the stolen vehicle, police also received reports of gunfire in the area.
State police established a perimeter around the home at 28 Bodwell St., and called in the tactical team and crisis negotiators.
The first contact police had with Powell was around 8:30 a.m., when police say Powell appeared in a doorway and fired rifle shots at officers.
A few minutes later, Powell left the home, again armed with a rifle, and he was shot and killed.
Two troopers who are members of the state’s tactical team fired their weapons, and have been placed on paid administrative leave while the circumstances of the shooting are investigated, which is standard practice. The officers are Trooper Garret Booth and Detective Scott Duff.
McCausland did not know whether Powell fired at the police immediately before he was killed.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
