BANGOR, Maine — One of the two men who died during a Friday shooting and kidnapping rampage that paralyzed much of northern Penobscot and Aroostook counties, worked at the Bangor Best Buy, which has offered grief counseling for his co-workers.
Kyle Hewitt, 22, formerly of Caribou, was shot and killed during an 18-hour crime spree by Anthony Lord, 35, of Crystal and Houlton, that involved Lord shooting five people, two to death, as well as beating another man and the kidnapping of Hewitt’s girlfriend, police said.
“We’re devastated with the news of Kyle’s death,” Carly Charlson, Best Buy spokeswoman, said in a Saturday email. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this incredibly difficult time.”
Grief counseling was available for Hewitt’s fellow employees, she said by phone.
Lord, who has a long criminal history and is a lifetime registrant of the Maine Sex Offender Registry, was arrested 2:30 p.m. Friday at his uncle’s home by officers from Houlton Police Department and Maine State Police.
The woman he is accused of kidnapping, Brittany Irish, 21, who was Hewitt’s girlfriend, was released and is now safe, Maine State Police officials said after Lord’s arrest on two counts of murder and kidnapping.
Also killed was Kevin Tozier, 58, of Lee who was shot while working in a woodlot on the Winn Road in Lee with Clayton McCarthy, 54, of Mattawamkeag who also was shot, but survived. After both men were shot, Lord took McCarthy’s pulp truck and headed north.
Two others, Brittany Irish’s mom, Kim Irish, 55, and Carlton Eddy, both of Benedicta also were shot by Lord, police say. Kim Irish was shot during the kidnapping of her daughter, and Eddy was shot in the shoulder when he stopped by the Irish home to check out damage from a fire the previous night, which investigators believe Lord may have set.
Police also say Kary Mayo of Silver Ridge Township was tied to a chair and beaten, then Lord took his vehicle and weapon to start the shooting spree. He starting by shooting out the windows of his brother’s nearby house in Benedicta, then he went to the Irish home on Aroostook Road, also in Benedicta. Messages left for family members for comment were not immediately returned.
The receptionist at the Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln declined to provide patient conditions on Saturday. A nursing supervisor at Eastern Maine Medical Center said they had no information about any of the three.
Stephen McCausland, Department of Public Safety spokesman, said Friday that the wounded “are expected to survive.”
Maine State Police also continue to investigate the death of Lord’s 6-month-old son, Larry Earl Lord, who was taken to the hospital on May 5 and died two days later on May 7, McCausland said, adding state police investigate all infant deaths.
Lord, who is being held at the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton, is scheduled to make his first appearance before a judge at 11:30 a.m. Monday in Houlton.