GORHAM, Maine — Police said they have determined a 14-year-old boy who tried to set fire to a home is not the person responsible for numerous arsons in town this spring.
The teenager, whose name is not being released by police because he is a juvenile, was shot by the homeowner Friday night, according to Gorham police Lt. Chris Sanborn.
The teen remains at Maine Medical Center in Portland with injuries that are not life-threatening, Sanborn said Monday afternoon.
The juvenile had attempted to burn the home, which received minor damage, according to Sanborn. The homeowner and a witness caught the suspect in the act and the suspect was shot as the pair detained him, the lieutenant said.
Six suspicious fires between March 27 and April 18 targeted vacant buildings in the northern end of Gorham. Sanborn said the home the teen was at Friday is on Mount View Drive, which is located in the southern end of town.
Police are not releasing the name of the homeowner and it’s unclear what the teen’s motive was in the attempted arson.
“It’s still too early in the investigation, and again, it’s an open investigation,” Sanborn said.
I truly hope that police are investigating, since this is not a serial arsonist, the reason the boy wanted to burn this house down. You never know in this day and age whether some sort of abuse had taken place there leading up to this event.
Right. That would justify it. He’s not a punk, he’s a victim.
//end sarcasm//
Oh yeah, I agree with you 100%. Everyone who does some sort of crime now is a “victim”. The law forgets about the real victims!
He is a child.
Who was evil enough to set a house on fire (oh, with people inside). Yep, hopefully he can make his next little league game.
How did most of us know that you don’t set houses on fire, especially by the age of 14?
The 2 best things about this event:
1) the true victims were not hurt, and their house can be saved
2) the perpetrator got shot.
Ok so when a “child” burns everything you have down just make him some s’mores with the raging flames from your home.
Typical liberal answer.
Maybe he was dropped on his head as a baby, who knows, but those homeowners would be no less dead if he had burned the house down.
Sometimes kids are just “born bad.” and anybody who doesn’t believe that is fooling themselves.
Like the homeowner abusing the boy – Is that what you’re suggesting?
He was shot as they were detaining him? Did he try to escape? It sounds like they caught him and then just decided to shoot him. I’m wondering if the article should have said he was shot while they were attempting to detain him?
Don’t move or I’ll shoot!! Maybe he moved?
Here is how it would sound at MY house:
BANG! BANG! BANG! Freeze, or I will shoot!
That is how it would go here. If I was in a nicer mood, he would get the 9mm. If I was particularly cranky, the .40 or .357 mag.
so he can attempt to burn down a house, with people inside but because he is a juvenile cannot release his name, acountability, accountablity, accountablity….
Actually, not true. The law related to juvenile charges allows public access to that information when a felony is charged. The PD just says that out of habit and ignorance.
OR, because he hasn’t been charged, yet…
Hopefully he has learned that starting fires can result in injuries or death! After he serves a sentence. Who knows if he hadn’t gotten caught there could have been lives lost that night. He deserves to be put away.
I thinking he already knew fires could result in injuries and death. Nothing for him to learn here
Other than there might be more of a consequence than a court date and maybe some time in a juvenile facility if you try to burn the house of somebody with a gun.
I await the parents and community to come out with the “he is such a nice young man” stories.
I wonder what would happen if they had killed the 14 year old?
Hard to tell. Maybe they’d say the homeowner was a vigilante and charge him with murder.