AUGUSTA (WGME) — Two police officers were acting in self-defense of themselves and others when they shot and killed a man with autism in an Augusta homeless shelter, according to the Kennebec Journal citing a review by the Office of the Maine Attorney General.
In October of 2021, officers were called to the Bread of Life shelter on Hospital Street for a report of a man armed with a knife.
When they arrived, they found shelter workers helping an injured man and then located 34-year-old Dustin Paradis in a kitchen holding a large chef’s knife.
In surveillance, videos, officers are heard telling Paradis to drop the knife.
In response, a man, presumably Paradis, can be heard saying, “Kill me.”
Police continue asking Paradis to put down the knife, until surveillance video shows Paradis moving forward quickly, with knife in hand. That’s when officers fired their weapons.
Augusta Police Officer Sebastian Guptill and Sergeant Christopher Blodgett shot Paradis who died at the scene.
On audio recordings, witnesses are heard telling police Paradis had injured another resident earlier by throwing a bowl at the back of his head.
The officers were previously cleared by an Augusta police investigation and now the AG’s office has cleared them as well.