Family wants charges filed in BB gun shooting

LEWISTON – It’s been five months since James Gendron’s son had a BB surgically removed from his chest, and the Lewiston man is growing increasingly frustrated that no one has been charged.

“What it tells us is that you can shoot somebody with a BB gun and get away with it because it’s not a real bullet. They’re going to wait until [the shooter] kills somebody,” Gendron said.

Androscoggin County District Attorney Norman Croteau said no one has been charged because witnesses have made conflicting statements.

According to a police report, four witnesses said another resident of the apartment building, Adam Wilkerson, shot Gendron’s son, Michael. But Wilkerson’s son confessed to the shooting that night, according to the report.

Members of both families said they have been at odds with one another since the Wilkersons moved into the Sabattus Street apartment building. The Wilkersons have since moved.

Michael Welch, the Gendrons’ lawyer, said they are looking for another witness, a friend of Wilkerson’s son who was in the apartment. Welch said the case isn’t likely to move forward unless new evidence is found.

“The D.A. is very concerned that someone was shot, but he also has to face the reality of whether he can prove the case,” Welch said. “Because if he prosecutes and he loses, that’s it. He only gets one shot.”

Michael Gendron was shot June 25 after an argument with Wilkerson’s son, according to the incident report. He was taken to Central Maine Medical Center to have the BB removed from his chest tissue.

Michael Gendron, his sister, Kendra, and his mother, Tracey, obtained protection orders against Adam Wilkerson the next day.

“He allowed his son to take the blame, when there are four others who saw him,” Tracey Gendron wrote in her request.