MARS HILL, Maine — Police fatally shot a man in an armed confrontation outside The Scovil Apartments on Scovil Street in Mars Hill early Wednesday.

Deputy sheriffs responded to a 911 call at approximately 2:58 a.m. There was an armed confrontation on the scene and Deputy Isaac Ward shot 28-year-old Jacob Wood, according to Aroostook County Sheriff Shawn Gillen.

Gillen provided no details of what led to the shooting, but said Deputy Ward is on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

Wood died at the scene, the sheriff said.

One man was fatally shot by police on Scovil Street in Mars Hill on April 14, 2021. The shooting occurred outside this block of apartments. Credit: Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli / BDN

The Maine attorney general’s office is investigating the shooting, a standard practice when law enforcement uses deadly force.

“I can confirm that the OAG is investigating,” attorney general’s office spokesperson Marc Malon said Wednesday.

Investigators were on the scene Wednesday afternoon near a building at the rear of the apartment complex, just one building over from the children’s playground. One of the doors in the six-unit building was covered with paper bags and evidence tape. Still, investigators did not confirm that apartment was where the shooting occurred.

One man was fatally shot by police on Scovil Street in Mars Hill on April 14, 2021. This apartment door was covered in evidence tape, but investigators did not confirm this was the location of the shooting.  Credit: Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli / BDN

One of the two investigators who identified himself as from the attorney general’s office said that they were wrapping up for the day. But he said he was unable to talk about the case. Just before 4 p.m., the attorney general’s office investigator and a Maine State Trooper left the Scovil Street location.

Malon said that there is no set timeline for the investigation’s completion, but the attorney general’s investigation division begins immediately and AG investigators have taken control of the investigation.

Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli is a reporter covering the Houlton area. Over the years, she has covered crime, investigations, health, politics and local government, writing for the Washington Post, the LA...