New Gloucester man killed by sniper in Iraq

PORTLAND – A New Gloucester man working in Iraq for a private company as a police trainer was killed Sunday when he was shot by a sniper.

Darrell L. Wetherbee, 46, was killed at about 12:20 p.m. local time outside a police station in the city of Hawijah northwest of Baghdad while working as an international police liaison officer with DynCorp International, the company said.

Wetherbee was assigned to a team that was training and equipping the Iraqi police service, the company said.

Wetherbee had been deployed in Iraq since June 1. He had participated in two previous civilian police missions, in Kosovo, with DynCorp.

Before his deployment to Iraq, Wetherbee was employed with the State of Maine Judicial Branch, the company said. He began his law enforcement career in 1991 with the Freeport Police Department.

He is survived by his wife and three children, according to WCSH-TV.

DynCorp International, based in Falls Church, Va., is a services and project-management company serving civilian and military government agencies and commercial clients worldwide.