WINDHAM — One person was killed in a shooting Friday afternoon that prompted a shelter-in-place order in Windham and Raymond for about three hours as police searched for a gunman along Roosevelt Trail.
Police officials said at a news conference Friday evening that the lone suspect had been located. Maine State Police refused to say whether the suspect was dead or alive or in custody, only that there was no longer a threat to the public.
Officials at the news conference declined to release many details about either the victim or the suspect as investigators work to notify families, though they did say that the victim was male.
Windham police Chief Kevin Schofield said bystanders unsuccessfully tried to save the victim’s life as police, fire and EMS crews from around the region descended on the scene.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy “in the near future,” Maine State Police Maj. Lucas Hare said.
Police were flooded with 911 calls just after the shooting, Schofield said, and witnesses were key in helping officers locate a vehicle linked to the suspect.
The suspect was found “a short time after the vehicle was located,” Hare said, though he would not disclose when that was. He also declined to say whether the suspect switched cars at some point in his flight from the scene.
Hare said the quick actions of first responders were key.
“Their quick response and their ability to contain this situation really helped to mitigate any further risks to the public,” he said.
MOTORCYCLE AT INTERSECTION
As the investigation unfolded Friday afternoon, Route 302 in Windham, usually notorious for its traffic on summer weekends, was eerily quiet.
State and local police could be seen carefully investigating a motorcycle at the intersection of Route 302 and Landing Road. A baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses that lay near a blood stain beside the bike were also carefully analyzed and passed between investigators.
Police responded to a call about a shooting just before 2 p.m. on Route 302 (Roosevelt Trail) in North Windham, Maine State Police spokesperson Lt. Aaron Turcotte said in a news release. The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and Maine State Police were called in to assist Windham police.
A shelter-in-place order was issued just after 4 p.m. for Route 302 from Route 85 in Raymond to Whites Bridge Road in Windham, as well as the surrounding side streets.
An alert sent to phones statewide read: “Gunman at large in North Windham. Shelter indoors, lock doors. Report suspicious behavior to 911. Last seen Windham/Raymond line. Stay inside. Tune to local news or Windham PD for updates.”
The notification that went out about the shooter was not intended to go out statewide, Hare said Friday evening. He did not have an answer as to why it went out about two hours after the shooting took place.
“I’m not exactly sure what the breakdown there and the time was,” he said.
LOCKDOWN LIFTED
The shelter-in-place order was lifted just after 7 p.m.
Around 6 p.m., people began exiting nearby businesses. Staff at a Walgreens about a half-mile from the scene were relieved when a police officer greeted them at the doorway and gave them the go-ahead to leave.
The motorcycle that police had been examining was removed around 5:30 p.m., and the road reopened to traffic just after 6:15 p.m.
Patrons of the nearby East Shore Tavern in Raymond gathered outside to watch as officials gathered at a staging area across the road. They swapped tidbits of information they had heard or seen on the news and on social media.
Heavily armed officers dressed in camouflage — face paint and all — stood around chatting, waiting to be called into action if needed.
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce told WMTW-TV in a live interview around 5 p.m. that officers found the suspect’s car at a Dunkin’ in Raymond, but that the suspect still had not been found at that point.
