PORTLAND, Maine — The victim of a fatal shooting in Portland Tuesday night was recalled Wednesday morning as “a wonderful person” who had fallen on hard times.
Tammy Shaw, a longtime friend of David Anderson, said the 36-year-old man who police say died in the shooting at 88 Gilman St., said he was a lighthearted, generous person who spent time with her autistic son even though he had no obligation to.
“He would take [my son] out, play with him and help him ride his bike,” Shaw said. “He volunteered for the Autism Society of Maine — he had no reason to, other than to be supportive. I can’t believe he’s gone.”
Shaw — who lives at 109 Gilman St., down the street from where the shooting took place — said Anderson was originally from Indiana, but moved to Portland nearly 25 years ago. She said she’s known him for two decades, and that many people knew him by the nickname “Shycago.”
She recalled one recent occasion when Anderson brought her 8-year-old son a Spider-Man costume as a gift, and squeezed into it just to goof around. She said Anderson frequently brought her son things like video games, movies and other gifts, even though he’d recently lost his job at a local fish market and was struggling to get back on his feet.
“He was a wonderful person,” said Shaw, who spoke to reporters on her front porch late Wednesday morning. “He lost his way, but he didn’t deserve what happened to him. He never said a bad word about anyone.”
Several friends mourned Anderson’s loss on his Facebook page as well, saying the incident was a case of “another young life taken too soon” and telling him “you will never be forgotten.”
Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck said Wednesday that two people were shot at an apartment at the multi-unit 88 Gilman St. just after 11 p.m. Tuesday. One unidentified male victim was treated at the hospital and released, while Anderson died in the altercation.
The Gilman Street facility where the shooting took place is managed by Shalom House, an organization which helps people battling mental illness find and pay for housing.
Sauschuck said the two victims in the shooting were visiting a resident of the facility, but were not residents themselves.
The chief said police are searching for a “a white male, medium build and about 6 feet tall” who was seen running from the building and caught on multiple security cameras.
