Family outraged at shooting that killed S. Portland man

SOUTH PORTLAND – The family of a South Portland man who was fatally shot by police expressed outrage Friday at how officers handled the situation, saying their actions led to the man’s death.

Herb Gray said through his attorney that he never would have called police had he known that they would respond with excessive force that took the life of his 40-year-old son, Donald Gray.

The statement from attorney Brian Hansen said the officers opened the door of the bedroom and fired five shots. Police haven’t commented on how many shots were fired and by whom, saying that information will come out after investigations by the Police Department and the attorney general.

The two officers involved in the shooting, Jeffrey Cogswell and Theodore Sargent, have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the review.

Herb Gray said he called police to ask that a crisis team be sent to his Simmons Road home Wednesday night after Donald Gray took a gun and shut himself in his bedroom during an argument about a coming court case.

The Gray family said the three officers who responded asked only the location of Donald’s bedroom.

“According to comments made to the parents by the police, Donald did not fire at them,” Hansen’s statement said. “At 9:25, eight minutes after the parents called the police, their son, Donald, was dead.”

The statement said the family called police in hopes that they could help defuse the situation.

“The family feels that the response of the police department was excessive and rather than de-escalate the situation the police caused the situation to escalate and thus resulted in their son’s unnecessary death,” the statement said.

An attorney representing the two officers said they fired after Gray aimed his pistol at them.

“The officers are very sad, and reluctantly had to use deadly force,” said John Richardson, who represents the Maine Association of Police. “This person, who must have been suffering from a number of demons, pointed a gun at the officers.”

Donald Gray was in debt, according to court records, and collection agencies had taken legal action to try to recover more than $36,000. A hearing on one of the cases was scheduled for Thursday.