LAMOINE, Maine — Police have been able to interview all the surviving witnesses to a fatal shooting last week outside a local home and now are sorting through statements about what happened, according to a state official.
Torrey Garland, 34, remains hospitalized at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for Maine Department of Public Safety. McCausland said Tuesday that the hospital has not released information about what condition Garland is in, but police do know he is doing better.
“Garland’s condition has improved, enough that detectives have talked to him,” McCausland said.
Garland was admitted to the hospital early on Sunday, March 11, after he and three other men were shot outside a home on Route 184 in Lamoine.
One of the men, Lawrence “Randy” Sinclair, 32, of Ellsworth, was shot in the head and died later that day. Garland was reported to be in critical condition from the shooting while two other men — Michael Carter, 30, of Lamoine, and Joshua McKinney, 25, of Ellsworth — had injuries that were not life threatening, according to police.
In the days immediately after the shooting, state police said they were still waiting to interview Garland to find out his version of the incident.
Police have said that after Garland was shot, he drove away from the house in a friend’s truck but then wrecked it about a half-mile away from where the shooting occurred on Douglas Highway, which is the local name for Route 184. Police said they are unsure whether Garland may have sustained any additional injuries when he drove the truck off the road.
McCausland said police now are sorting through conflicting witness statements about what happened outside the home at 749 Douglas Highway, where Carter lives with 22-year-old Tacy Mullins. Mullins and the dead man’s brother, Jacob Sinclair, 24, of Ellsworth, witnessed the incident but were uninjured, police have said. The shooting occurred around 4:30 a.m. after the Sinclairs, Garland and McKinney showed up at the house in two separate vehicles, according to police.
“No decision at this point has been made” about whether criminal charges will be filed as a result of the fatal shooting, McCausland said.
Police have released few details about the case. They have not indicated why the four men showed up at the house at such an early hour or who shot whom. They have said they recovered a firearm from the scene of the shooting but have not said what kind of firearm it is or who might own it.
According to Sinclair’s obituary, published March 16 in the Bangor Daily News, he was a lifetime Hancock County resident and an avid sports fan who started working as a carpenter for his family’s construction business after graduating from Ellsworth High School.
Sinclair’s funeral was held Monday in Ellsworth.
Follow BDN reporter Bill Trotter on Twitter at @billtrotter.
so many rumors and unanswered questions. none of which will change the end result. had someone said they were coming to my home to rape me, and i’m NOT saying that rumor is factual or not becauase frankly there is no way to prove or disprove, but it certainly would explain why she was waiting with a gun. a call to the police would have been the first order of business and maybe no one would have been shot….. this should be a life changing experience for those involved. take this horrible incident and chose to do something better with whatever it is you have going on in your lives that led up to this point…. condolences to the family of the Mr. Sinclair, hopefully these young people will make some changes for the better, find a new perspective on things…
I certainly cannot think of an innocent reason to show up at someone’s home at 4:30 a.m., I will say that.
It makes you wonder why cops weren’t the first order of business. There must be something more to it; calling the police seems logical in this case. In any event, they are involved now and the truth will come out.
Ellsworth American reports that State Police Lt. Chris Coleman announced last Monday that “it will be quite some time before we get answers” … Quite some time … I think almost everyone has already given up waiting for the Maine State Police to sort out what happened in Lamoine. But just in case you hadn’t given up to this point, Lt. Coleman advises you to do so.
I would assume they won’t have any answers for the general public for “quite some time” because they have to put everything together. They need to build a case and do it well in order to get a conviction. I wouldn’t “give up” as you say. It will all come out in due time and those who need to be on trial will be.
Well Thank the good lord he is talking and prolly on his way to recovery……