Police investigate rifle-shooting incident

BELFAST – Gunshots three police officers heard being fired outdoors Friday night were from a semiautomatic rifle that an apartment resident said he shot into the ground after a fight with his girlfriend.

Police Chief Allen Weaver said Monday that the officers have taken the SKS 7.62 mm semiautomatic rifle and are keeping it in an evidence room.

The man who fired the rifle has not been charged, but police were still investigating Monday, Weaver said. The weapon is legal in Maine.

Police were alerted shortly before 10:30 p.m. Friday.

Officers initially thought the sounds were caused by firecrackers and speculated that they came from the vicinity of Grove Cemetery on Main Street.

Officers Brian Lunt and Jennifer Brickey and Waldo County’s Sgt. Mark Shade were walking the area when they heard another round of shots and saw a man walk into a Charles Street Extension apartment building. The officers secured the building and tried to contact the apartment occupant.

“They tried to get someone to acknowledge their presence, but even though the lights were out and they could see the TV was on, nobody answered the door,” Weaver said.

At that point the officers began obtaining a search warrant. After learning who the apartment’s residents were, the officers began seeking their whereabouts. They determined that the man and his girlfriend had been drinking at a local bar and were seen arguing with each other when they left.

The search warrant was based on the probable cause that police needed to enter the apartment to determine the well-being of the man’s girlfriend. However, as they prepared to enter, police received word from the woman that she was not at home. Maine State Police Trooper Marc Coleman rushed to Northport and confirmed that the woman was staying there.

“Because there was no longer an issue of the safety of her well-being, that basically removed the probable cause from the search warrant,” Weaver said.

“We’re still looking into the incident,” Weaver said Monday. “We made contact with the individual and recovered the weapon, which we are holding in our evidence locker.”

When police eventually confronted the man, he admitted firing shots into the ground outside his apartment.

While Weaver said there are measures against discharging firearms near homes and disturbing the peace, no charges have been filed. Officer Walter Corey is conducting the investigation.