Millinocket council to honor first responders in standoff

MILLINOCKET – Local police and other town emergency service workers who helped contain the July 14 standoff will be honored Thursday by a Town Council proclamation, Millinocket council Chairman David Nelson said.

The council’s public session starts at 4:30 p.m.

“When it was described to me, I was very proud and pleased to know that our officers who protect our community did an outstanding job of ensuring that no officers, bystanders or others were hurt,” Nelson said Monday. “It shows the leadership from the very top on down because the chief was not there.”

At the time, police Chief Donald Bolduc was at Baxter State Park participating in a 20-mile hike with a Boy Scout troop.

“His people that were in charge did exactly what they were supposed to do,” Nelson said.

The dispatchers and out-of-town police involved in the incident will not be cited in the proclamation, but they will not be overlooked by the council, Nelson said.

“They were dealing with an intoxicated individual with a shotgun, and less than five minutes after their arrival, a shot was fired. This was the type of situation that could have gone either way very quickly,” Bolduc said.