AUGUSTA — A member of the Maine State Police Tactical Team was legally justified when he shot and killed a Wellington man Nov. 27, according to the state attorney general.

Michael E. Carpenter said an investigation by his office found that Michael Jonas, 47, of Wellington died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

“Jonas was struck by the single shot fired by Trooper Frank Poirier after a five-hour standoff during which several verbal warnings were given and ignored, after a failed attempt by another trooper to disarm Jonas by the use of non-lethal ammunition, and after Jonas pointed a shotgun he was carrying in the direction of the troopers. Earlier in the morning, Jonas had discharged the same shotgun in the direction of Piscataquis County Sheriff John Goggin and his deputies,” Carpenter said.

The action of Trooper Poirier, Carpenter said, was in response to imminent threats of serious bodily injury or death posed by Jonas to Poirier and two other troopers. The shooting ended a standoff between Jonas and police.

He said that during the standoff, Jonas discharged a shotgun numerous times from outside his home in the direction of the sheriff and his deputies, who had responded to a call that Jonas was armed; had ordered his wife from the residence; had fired shots; and was acting in a threatening manner.

“Jonas fired at least 24 rounds at the officers over an approximate three-hour period,” Carpenter said. Neither the sheriff nor any of his deputies were injured.

The Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department was contacted by an official of the Veterans Affairs hospital at Togus shortly before 2 a.m. Nov. 27, and was informed that Jonas’ wife had called the hospital requesting police be dispatched to the residence, said Carpenter.

Carpenter’s investigation disclosed that Jonas’ wife had left the house and retreated to a neighbor’s home, where she called the VA hospital.

“She also told the hospital official that Jonas threatened to `blow away the cops,”‘ Carpenter said.

Four deputies arrived at Jonas’ house shortly after 2 a.m.. Attempts to talk with Jonas were met with gunfire from Jonas’ direction. At least two of Jonas’ friends tried to reason with him over the telephone, but “their attempts were met by Jonas hanging up the telephone. An attempt at telephone contact with Jonas by Goggin ended similarly,” Carpenter said.

Jonas, at one point, offered Goggin a cup of coffee, but when Goggin declined the offer until Jonas put down his weapon, Jonas responded by shooting at him, said Carpenter.

Goggin then called the State Police Tactical Team for assistance. In addition, two state police negotiators went to the scene. One negotiator, the attorney general said, contacted Jonas by telephone and tried to reason with him, but Jonas hung up.

As members of the tactical team maneuvered to narrow Jonas’ area, Jonas told the negotiator he was leaving the house and that police would have to shoot him.

As three tactical team members, including Trooper Poirier, started down a hill on the Reed Road leading to Jonas’ home, Carpenter said, they met Jonas walking up the hill carrying a shotgun.

Carpenter said Jonas refused commands to drop the shotgun. “His only response to the commands was to continue walking toward the troopers, who had taken up stationary positions, while telling them `you’re going to have to take me out,”‘ Carpenter said.

Jonas, Carpenter said, ignored additional commands. When Jonas was within 30 feet of the troopers, Carpenter said, he was struck twice by nonlethal rounds fired by one of the troopers.

“The rounds had little effect and as Jonas was in the process of pointing his shotgun in the direction of the troopers, Trooper Poirier shot him,” Carpenter said.

Jonas received first aid at the scene from paramedics and was taken to Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft, where he died two hours later, said Carpenter.

The investigation revealed that about two years ago Jonas had talked with a physician about suicidal thoughts and the manner in which he might commit suicide, which would involve his creating a situation where a police officer would have to shoot him, said Carpenter.

The Nov. 27 incident, which led to Jonas’ death, was consistent with the method Jonas disclosed two years earlier to the physician, he said.