Stabbing suspect charged > Teens hold press conference regarding Bangor incident

BANGOR — Bangor police said Monday that there was nothing to indicate that a stabbing on Main Street Saturday night was racially motivated.

The stabbing victim, 18-year-old Jonathan Burgess of Carmel, remained in fair condition on Monday. Police said Burgess told them during an interview that he did not believe the stabbing stemmed from reported racial tensions among the youths who hang out on the streets of Bangor.

“There is nothing at this time to indicate that this is racially motivated,” said Administrative Lt. Donald Winslow.

David Shane Jack, 21, appeared in 3rd District Court in Bangor Monday charged with aggravated assault. Bail was set at $25,000 double surety or $10,000 cash. Jack listed his address as 54 1/2 Charles St., though police listed him as a transient.

Jack, also known as “Shadow,” is well-known among the adolescents who hang around the streets of Bangor.

A small group of teens who described themselves as homeless held a press conference near the Bangor Public Library Monday afternoon.

Michael Boucher, 19, said he was with Jack when the stabbing occurred just after 11 p.m. Saturday at the corner of Patten and Main streets.

Boucher said that he and Jack and a couple of friends were walking to the store to get chips and soda when they ran into Burgess and his friends.

Witnesses told police that Burgess and Jack knew each other and that when the two groups got close, “Burgess said to Shadow, `What’s up?’ and then pushed Shadow on the shoulder in a way that friends do.”

Donald Brown of Cedar Street told police that he was with Burgess and that after Burgess pushed Jack’s shoulder, he saw Jack “coming out with a knife and putting it into Burgess’ stomach.”

Burgess was stabbed in the lower abdomen. Those who were with Jack said they ran to call 911 after the stabbing and returned a few minutes later to talk to police.

As police searched the downtown area for Jack, Officer Keith Mercier helped to secure the scene. Mercier said he heard movement in the bushes and that Jack came out with his hands up saying, “I’ve had enough. It was self-defense. I stabbed him, but it was self-defense.”

Jack was released from prison on Sept. 5 after completing a two-year sentence for four burglaries.

In the courthouse Monday, there was a brief verbal confrontation between Jack and a friend of Burgess’. As Jack was being led into a holding room, a young man shouted at him, “You stabbed my friend.”

Jack yelled back, “He attacked me. I didn’t mean to stab the man.”

The young man who yelled at Jack was moved to another part of the courthouse.

On Monday afternoon, Winslow acknowledged that there are a number of young people who hang out on the streets. He said that while some of them might be “gang wannabes” police had no information regarding any formally organized gangs in the city.

Those who called Monday’s press conference said there were gangs in Bangor, but that they personally were not gang members and did not attribute the stabbing to gang-related tension.

Winslow said police were somewhat concerned about the area where the stabbing occurred because of the increasing number of vacant buildings there. Buildings are being vacated to make room for the proposed Shaw’s Supermarket, and vacant buildings tend to attract homeless people or young people looking for a place to hang out.