LEWISTON, Maine — A 24-year-old man who held police at bay in an armed standoff all day Saturday killed himself at St. Peter’s Cemetery, police said.
The man, who was not identified, shot himself in the head as he sat in his vehicle. The suicide happened at 5:30 p.m., said Lt. Michael McGonagle of the Lewiston Police Department.
“Obviously, this is not the result we wanted,” McGonagle said. “It’s a sad situation.”
Police know who the man is but would not release his identity Saturday night. McGonagle said the man had a Lewiston address, but may not have grown up in Lewiston. “It’s all under investigation,” McGonagle said. “We’re trying to reach family members.”
The man’s mother was at the cemetery director’s office with police officers during the standoff, the lieutenant said. She knew her son was distraught, and she contacted police Saturday morning, worried that he would harm himself.
“We located him at 9:30,” McGonagle said. “His mother was there the whole time.” Police spent the day negotiating with the man as he sat in his vehicle and were on the phone with him when he shot himself, McGonagle said.
The man never threatened to harm anyone but himself, police said.
During the day, the entire cemetery at 217 Switzerland Road was shut down as Lewiston police and Maine State Police negotiated with the man. About 30 police officers were involved.
Earlier in the day, police said the man was suicidal, and they were trying to convince him to “put the gun down and surrender,” McGonagle said. The man was distraught over personal issues. Police said they were trying to end the standoff peacefully without him hurting himself.
It was unclear, McGonagle said, why the man was in the cemetery.
At the cemetery’s Switzerland Road entrance, black iron gates were locked. At least a dozen police vehicles were parked inside. Outside the gate, a United Ambulance was on standby.
The cemetery’s Deer Road entrance was blocked off by a Lewiston Police Critical Response Unit vehicle with its blue lights flashing.
Neighbor Scott Giguere, who lives on Gulf Island Avenue, said his parents drove by the cemetery entrance Saturday morning and saw the police cars. They told him about it.
“I called one of the employees of the cemetery. I used to work here,” Giguere said. He was told that the standoff had gone on all day, that a man was in a car with a weapon threatening to hurt himself in Section 6 of the cemetery, which Giguere said is “down in the corner.”
Cemetery Director Gerald Raymond, who was in his office with police, said he saw one car in the graveyard.
“Police told me to lock the gates. I did,” Raymond said. “We’ve been shut down all day. We had a service scheduled that I canceled.”
During the afternoon, Raymond and Giguere hoped the standoff would end with no one getting hurt.
“Maybe he just snapped,” Giguere said. With so many people out of work, “it’s a tough time out there for people.”
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so sad.. if the people that committed suicide knew how much they have hurt their family and loved ones…… RIP and may the family and friends find peace…
Whose life is it, anyway? It was his and his alone to take … people this distraught are not thinking of anything excepting a way to end the pain!
Um… he wouldn’t have had life if it were for two people who wanted be a major part of his life until the end. A mother should not have to bury their own children. I am sorry.. but this is a huge part of mom’s life as well. This is going to be forever with her. There will not be a day go by that her thoughts do not go to him. Trust me, ( I have buried two daughters) until you have buried one of your baby’s you would feel that “your life is your life and no one else’s”
The pain that he has caused these people to go through is totally wrong and done out of complete selfishness. Yes I said selfish. To quote your own words Other “Whose life is it, anyway? It was his and his alone to take … people this distraught are not thinking of anything excepting a way to end the pain!” The point lays here~ He eased his pain and will never re-live it. Now what about the pain and suffering all that loved him has to go through forever??
You know, I’ve never understood the “suicide is selfish” argument. It sounds as though those who are really selfish are those who don’t want to see a loved one kill himself. They are more concerned with their own feelings than the feelings of the suicidal. Who are we to demand that a particular person must continue living a life of misery?
This isn’t to say that suicide is sometimes the only answer. It’s not. But let’s not kid ourselves with who is being selfish.
I agree, if we have the right to live as we please, we have the right to die as we please.
So very very sad. It’s never a solution but too many feel that it is. My heart aches for the mom who witnessed this. I cannot begin to imagine her pain.
Thirty police officers surrounding a distraught person..
whats your point? you blaming the police for this one too?
I’m not blaming anybody, fool. Though I suspect thirty cops surrounding him might have contributed negatively to the outcome.. That’s like every cop on duty within fifty miles..
Cammy, you certainly sound angry and it sounded like at least a little blame toward the police in your response & very negative in your denial … are you in denial? Sounds like it.
I think that Camcat was just saying that there were too many cops and that might have upset him a little, not that it caused him to shoot himself. I think that there were too many, why did there need to be thirty cops there? The gates were locked and the Lewiston Police Critical Response Unit vehicle was there. Does Lewiston have more than thirty cops on duty on one shift? If not, where did they all come from and who was patrolling the city all day?? Just asking!!
If he had gotten out of the cemetary and hurt someone you and Camcat would be complaining that there were not enough police officers there. The reason they had as many officers there as they did was to ensure he did not get out of the cemetary and do just that. I am sure he never saw all the officers that were there and had no clue exactly how many officers were there.
…and if he opened fire at 30 officers people would complain they didn’t shoot first or they had to shoot him multiple times instead of the cops taking turns firing one shot at a time. Camcat has an interesting point though, that is probably every cop within 50 miles, that many cops could have influenced the outcome of this, you could call the cops and tell them someone is driving 100 miles an hour all over the road with a dump truck and people are heading for the ditches, you’d be lucky if two cops gave a hoot about it, I heard on my scanner yesterday about a vehicle passing an ambulance en route to the hospital, lights and siren to the hospital, vehicle described as driving erratic, guess how many cops they send? None, they call the next county over, guess how many cops look out for this vehicle…one. Cop spent not even 15 minutes before he radioed back to close the complaint. It just seems the police force is a little obsessive with people and guns rather then people with cars who could do as much damage, negotiators come in the process even later, you tell someone a gun is involved they will call every cop, Sheriff, Game Warden within a 50 mile radius. These situations could be better controlled if they would just scale back the police at first and if the person presents even more of a threat, then by all means, call a SWAT and some Snipers.
get a clue, not even close to every cop within 50 miles. You people need to use your brains!
Just pointing out the original comment said “every cop on duty within 50 miles” which is closer to reality..
I don’t understand what you mean, um, Davey. Denial? Child, please..
I am willing to bet when you add up all the things that needed to be done it took thirty cops. Roads had to be blocked. The tactical team had to get into place, negotiators needed to get set up and work with his mom, the Officers that had to go door to door of residences in the area to make sure they stayed out of harms way. I am sure a command post was set up. I bet officers from the city, county and state police were all involved as cases like this help is called in from other agencies. There were not thirty cops standing around the car looking in but they have jobs to do. Seems no one is ever satisfied, too many cops, not enough cops, too quick, too slow, never where they are needed. People need to understand that the police are trained in handling these type of calls. Unless you are an expert on police tactics and were at this call then you need to let the professionals do their jobs. People who want to make war on the cops had better become friends with the criminals.
right on
Watch who you’re calling a fool. Hope you never need the tactical team to help you! hope they only send one cop!
Of course there had to be dozens of police there… the man was in a cemetary. He might have shot someone who is already dead!
So sorry for the Mom. May she find comfort in that her son is not tormented anymore. That is probably little comfort I will grant you but, he must havefelt there was nothing left for him here. Please accept my condolences Mom. RIP to this desperate young man.
I feel so bad that the Mom had to have to sit and endure that for so many hours. It must’ve been surreal for her, and no parent should have to experience it. My sincerest sympathy.
Nobody knows how useless you feel when someone you love gets so depressed that they take their life, do they realize it is something that they cannot take back? My heart goes out to his family. So young to want to end it all.
Not to be rude—surely at 24, he knew he couldn’t ‘take it back’. May he RIP and his family find peace, somehow.
This is so weird. My sympathies to the young man who killed himself. It’s a tough time for his family right now, so spare us any snarky comments. I know Scott Giguere and I know the cemetery. From age 14 until 20 I closed the gates there every night. I grew up in that area of Lewiston. That’s why I said it was so weird.
My sympathies to this young man’s mom, friends, and other family. Also my sympathies to the family of the person whose burial had to be cancelled. I can’t imagine how they feel.
Plz not another Vet
How horrible, this must have been so awful for his mother.
I sincerely hope that the Lewiston Police took the mother over to Riverview for some help. The aftermath of these is never, ever pleasent. The traumatic stress is enough, in some case’s, to drive the parent ‘over’ right along with the victim. The same is said for the Lewiston and State Police. Seeing this is not something you want to let stay in your head. PTSD is very much present, even now. Please, folk’s, go find someone to talk to. And not your Agency’s provider ! Find someone beyond their reach. Chief’s have a very bad habit of using PTSD as a factor when ‘suddenly’ making retention and promotional decision’s, especially when political career decision’s are being made.
24 years old and this fellow thought his best choice was to end his life. Im sorry he couldnt have thought something else, that he could be allright and live. Very sorry for his mother.
R.I.P is the only comment needed.
If left alone he may have changed his mind, but after all that police work,his life was gonna be even worse, I don’t blame him!
Seriously? yeah well at least he didn’t force a cop to do it and the cop would not only still be blamed by the likes of you, they would have had to deal with living with it. If he was gonna die, he did it himself
We are all wondering if this unfortunate man is a veteran, may God bless him and his family.
Neurotransmitter deficiency illness is rampant in todays world. People do unspeakable things because of this illness.
Neurotransmitters control our thinking and our actions. A lack of serotonin, nonephinephrine, epinephrine, acetylcholine, dopamine and other enkephalins is very serious as we are biochemical creatures driven by our neurochemical makup in our central nervous system.
We must open our minds if this problem is to be recognized and not make fun of people with a “mental illness”.
This could easily effect any of us. It is a very real disease.