Maine State Police evidence technicians follow a blood trail from a residence in Somerville on Wednesday, where a man died following an altercation. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal file
SOMERVILLE — Authorities have identified the man who died following an altercation in Somerville on Wednesday as Joel Williams, 48, and ruled his death to be a homicide as a result of gunshot wounds.
Williams was killed during a confrontation at 1041 Rockland Road, where he was staying at the time.
Injured during the altercation was Kyle Hunt, 31, of Jefferson, who police located a short distance away from the site of the altercation, on Valley Road.
Hunt was treated and released from MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, according to Shannon Moss, Maine State Police spokesperson.
No charges have yet been filed in the case.
Williams was discovered deceased Wednesday outside a residence at 1041 Rockland Road (state Route 17) in Somerville, following an altercation that was reported to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office around 10:15 a.m., according to police at the scene.
Moss said the altercation occurred between 9:30 and 10 a.m.
A witness, who declined to speak on the record, said Wednesday that Williams and Hunt were having words outside the residence and Williams stabbed Hunt. Then Hunt shot Williams.
Several neighbors to the property said Thursday they did not know who the two men were that were involved in the incident. And none of them saw what happened Wednesday morning that resulted in Williams’ death, though one neighbor described hearing gunshots while out hanging laundry Wednesday morning, and then seeing police respond to the site.
“I heard gunshots and thought, ‘Oh my God, those are close by,'” the neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said. “I decided I’d better go inside. And then all hell broke loose.”
A man was discovered deceased Wednesday outside a residence at 1041 Rockland Road (state Route 17) in Somerville following an altercation that was reported to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department around 10:15 a.m. Jefferson and Somerville first responders, with Lincoln deputies and Maine State Police secured the location where the dead man was found just outside the entrance. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal file
Another neighbor, who also did not want to be identified, said such violent incidents are rare in the small rural community, where usually if there is a public safety response it is to an accident on Route 17.
A sign in the yard of the incident scene advertises “Carpenters for hire,” and a partially finished wooden shed, with a ladder propped up next to it, sits in the yard. Neighbors said the sign went up recently.
Another neighbor said police were at the scene until about 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. There appeared to be no police presence at the site Thursday morning, nor did there appear to be any other activity there.
An autopsy was performed Thursday by the Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta, with the death ruled a homicide, as a result of gunshot wounds.
Police continue to investigate Williams’ death. Moss said investigators will review evidence, the autopsy results and interviews in consultation with the state Attorney General’s Office.
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