Trooper’s shots fired at runaway justified

ELLSWORTH – The state Attorney General’s Office has concluded that a state trooper was justified in firing two shots at a runaway teen-ager who displayed a gun when police confronted him in some woods off Route 1A in September.

Maine State Police have yet to conclude their internal investigation, however.

So the matter is not resolved.

Trooper Cliff Peterson fired two shots at Scott Noble, 17, of Searsport on Sept. 8. Noble and another teen-age boy fled the nearby Kidspeace New England residential facility the day before and later broke into a roadside business where police say they stole a 9mm handgun.

Ellsworth police were alerted, and they called the state police and deputies from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department to help retrieve the two boys. Peterson and another trooper came upon the two boys in the woods, and Noble brought the handgun to his head.

The shots apparently were fired when attempts to get the boy to drop the gun had failed, but details of what occurred that day have yet to be confirmed by authorities investigating the matter.

A spokesman for the Maine State Police said in September that he couldn’t say whether the boy turned the gun on police before the trooper opened fire. Officers on the scene the day of the shooting said the boy hadn’t threatened officers with the weapon.

Bob Way, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said Tuesday that while his agency has found Peterson was justified in the shooting, he couldn’t comment on why the decision was made until the state police conclude their internal investigation into the matter.

Premature release of his agency’s findings, Way said, could prejudice the Maine State Police review of the incident.

“We have concluded our review and found that Trooper Peterson was legally justified when he shot at Mr. Noble,” Way said. “I can’t give the reasons why he was legally justified until the state police conclude their internal review.”

State police have appointed a panel of three state police commanding officers and one civilian to review the shooting and make a determination about whether Peterson was justified in the use of deadly force. Those findings, along with the attorney general’s findings, will be forwarded to Col. Michael Sperry, chief of the Maine State Police.

Sperry will have the final word on Peterson’s actions and whether any disciplinary action is warranted.

Stephen McCausland, Maine Public Safety Department spokesman, said last week that the state police inquiry is still underway and typically waits for the conclusion of the attorney general’s review before making findings known.

A final decision by Sperry could still be several weeks away.