Augusta police secure the entrance to the Edmund S. Muskie Federal Building at 40 Western Ave. in Augusta after a shooting inside the building April 20. Police and investigators at the scene said a man with a knife was shot by a security guard who was screening visitors to the building. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal file

AUGUSTA — The man hospitalized after he was shot last week for allegedly attacking a security officer at a federal building is a flight risk, threat to the public and should be detained until trial, authorities argue in court papers filed Tuesday.

Derik Broox Wight, 41, was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with assaulting a federal officer, after he allegedly entered the Edmund S. Muskie Federal Building at the corner of Western Avenue and Sewall Street in Augusta on Wednesday, April 20, armed with a knife.

Authorities said Wight attacked a security officer contracted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service. At one point during the incident Wight was allegedly holding a knife near the security officer’s throat, and a second officer shot Wight, who was arrested and taken to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta for treatment of his gunshot wound.

One week later, Wight continues to be hospitalized at MaineGeneral Medical Center, where a hospital spokesperson said Tuesday the man was listed in fair condition.

Meanwhile, federal authorities on Tuesday filed a motion to detain him until trial, arguing that he is a flight risk and could pose a threat to the public.

Joel Casey, an assistant U.S. attorney, filed a motion for detention in U.S. District Court in Bangor, seeking to have Wight detained without bail until trial. Authorities argue in the motion that there is a serious risk that Wight would flee if he’s released, noting he faces allegations involving a crime of violence. The motion states the court should detain Wight because there are no conditions of release that would reasonably assure he appeared in court and assure the “safety of any other person in the community.”

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The April 20 incident unfolded at the Muskie Federal Building at 40 Western Ave., which houses a post office and several federal offices, including the Internal Revenue Service.

The security company employing the armed guards, Paragon Systems Inc., contracts with the Federal Protective Service to scrutinize people who visit the Augusta building. Asked what entity would investigate the use of deadly force in the incident by the security officer, Kristen Setera, a spokeswoman for the FBI, said the Federal Protective Service would lead that investigation, with assistance of the FBI. The Federal Protective Service is a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Federal Protective Service and FBI agents examine the entrance to the Edmund S. Muskie Federal Building at 40 Western Ave. in Augusta after a shooting April 20 near the doorway. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal file

FBI Special Agent Timothy Theriault, in an affidavit filed in court, wrote that the incident was recorded on video and he watched that surveillance footage. Wight entered the building and approached security screening, which is just inside the Sewall Street entrance to the building, and then pulled out a knife as he walked up to one of the officers, Theriault wrote. The affidavit identifies the security officer only with the initials “D.B.”

“Wight grabs D.B. with his left hand keeping him against the wall, and puts a knife up to the throat area of D.B. Wight still holding D.B. against the wall, pulls his knife hand back holding it out at his side by his hip,” Theriault wrote. “Another protective security officer draws his service weapon and points it at Wight and, after a moment, fires a single shot, whereupon Wight drops the knife and falls to the ground.”

The FBI, which said no one else inside the building was injured, is investigating the incident as an assault on a federal officer by Wight.

In Maine, a police officer’s use of deadly force in an incident is typically investigated by the state Office of the Attorney General, which reviews officer-involved shootings to determine if deadly force was justifiable in such incidents.

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Danna Hayes, special assistant with the state AG’s office, said the FBI and Homeland Security are conducting the investigation into the use of deadly force in the Wight shooting. She said the state AG’s office will support the investigation if those entities seek help. She said the office had a staff person at the scene, before a determination was made that the investigation into the use of deadly force would be conducted by the federal, not state, authorities.

Theriault’s affidavit states authorities were able to confirm the identification of Wight, who initially declined to say who he was, by scanning his fingerprints.

Attorney James Nixon, an assistant federal defender for the District of Maine, who was initially assigned as a public defender of Wight in the case, declined to comment on Tuesday.

Information on the employment status of the two guards involved in the incident was not immediately available from federal officials.

If convicted of the charge of assaulting a federal officer, Wight could face up to 20 years of imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both, followed by up to three years of supervised release.

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