BRISTOL, Maine — A man who was shot Thursday while investigating gunshots he heard near his property remained in stable condition Friday afternoon at Maine Medical Center in Portland, according to Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Rand Maker.
Maker, who declined to release the victim’s and alleged perpetrator’s identities because of an ongoing investigation, said the man suffered a gunshot wound to his torso that was not life threatening. According to Maker, the incident is being investigated as a possible accidental shooting that happened as a result of a person target practicing on his own property.
“Investigators are confident that this shooting was not intentional in nature and all the parties involved have been identified and are cooperating,” reads a press release circulated by Maker.
The incident was reported at about 10:35 a.m. Thursday by the victim, who is a resident of the Upper Round Pond Road in Bristol. The resident said he had been shot when he went into the woods near his home after hearing several gunshots. The victim was first taken to Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta before being transferred to Maine Medical Center.
Maker declined to identify the type of gun used in the incident, but said it is illegal to fire a weapon within 300 feet of another dwelling unless the property owner has given permission. Maker said whether the 300-foot law will come into play in this case is under investigation.
He said detectives from his department and the Maine Warden Service were collecting information Friday and had plans to take photographs and measurements from an aircraft early next week.
“This will take some time,” he said. “We want to have a really good look at where everyone was at the time of the shooting.”
Maker said once the investigation is complete, it will be up to the Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office whether any charges will be filed.
Glad the victim is doing better.
I guess all the people screaming about hunters and property rights yesterday, feel kind of stupid today.
Yup….you’d think they would.
Sleepy, I think the experienced and responsible hunters would tell you this has nothing whatever to do with them.
My comment was directed towards the posters yesterday that made this into a hunting issue. But thank you for the comment, I agree.
One rule that should come in to play is to have a safe backstop for your bullets. I had a neighbor that did not think that was important and he got in trouble with his other neighbor when one of his “stray” bullets went through the neighbors siding. What are people thinking when they handle firearms? One can never be sure. Some are just negligent, some are just ignorant.
Maybe they were police at shooting practice ??
photos from the air? 300 feet is pretty easy to measure of the ground.The shooter was on his own property or he wasn’t,he was 300 feet away from the victims home or he wasn’t.The shooter was shooting safely and the victim walked where he shouldn’t have or the shooter was negligent.Sherlock Holmes need not apply to solve this one.