Maine deadly shooting suspect was recently released from prison

BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — A Maine man who police say killed 4 individuals in a house after which shot three others randomly on a busy freeway had been launched days earlier from jail, a state official stated Wednesday.

Joseph Eaton was launched Friday from the Maine Correctional Middle in Windham, the place he had been sentenced in March 2021 for a probation violation, stated Anna Black, director of governmental affairs for the Maine Division of Corrections.

State data additionally present that Eaton carried with him a prison historical past that ought to have prevented him from legally possessing a gun.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows under.

BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — A Maine man who police say killed 4 individuals in a house after which shot three others randomly on a busy freeway had a prison historical past that ought to have prevented him from legally possessing a gun, in line with state data.

The shootings in Maine started within the small city of Bowdoin, the place 4 individuals have been killed Tuesday. Then a chaotic scene developed during which photographs have been fired at automobiles on an interstate freeway over 20 miles away in the neighborhood of Yarmouth, police stated. Three individuals have been shot there, and one remained in crucial situation Wednesday.

“That is an energetic investigation with a number of transferring components,” Shannon Moss, state police spokesperson, stated Wednesday.

The gunman, recognized as Joseph Eaton, 34, of Bowdoin, was charged with 4 counts of homicide however was not instantly charged within the freeway shootings, she stated. He was jailed whereas awaiting a courtroom look. It was unclear if he had an lawyer to talk on his behalf, a jail official stated Wednesday.

The names of the victims weren’t launched, and state police didn’t focus on any potential motive. The 4 our bodies have been taken to the state health worker’s workplace in Augusta for constructive identification and autopsies.

Ian Halsey, of Bowdoinham, stated that two cousins have been shot and that his uncle suffered shrapnel accidents in a single automobile. One among his cousins is in crucial situation, and not one of the household knew the shooter, he stated.

“They have been simply passersby within the improper place on the improper time,” he stated of his household. “It’s horrible what occurred.”

Eaton was charged over the previous decade with greater than a half-dozen crimes and served an eight-month sentence final 12 months for assault, in line with state data. Previous convictions included aggravated assault, a felony that may forestall him from legally having a firearm.

The origins and possession of the firearms utilized in Tuesday’s shootings have been unclear. State police declined to touch upon the weapon that was used.

The seven individuals shot Tuesday have been the newest victims of mass shootings within the U.S., whose targets included a Christian elementary college in Nashville, Tennessee; a financial institution in Louisville, Kentucky, and a Candy Sixteen celebration in a small metropolis in Alabama.

In Bowdoin, yellow crime tape hung the place the shootings passed off in a house flanked by woods on the finish of a protracted, gravel driveway. Detectives and proof technicians remained within the residence gathering proof late Tuesday, lengthy after hearses left the driveway.

At one level, a lady spoke to police outdoors the home, then dropped to her knees and sobbed.

In Yarmouth on Wednesday, site visitors flowed usually on Interstate 295, the place a day earlier than the three individuals have been shot in vehicles and the gunman was apprehended.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills tweeted her concern for the “households, buddies and family members of these impacted by this tragedy.” She stated she was praying for the injured.

“Like individuals throughout Maine, I’m shocked and deeply saddened. Acts of violence like we skilled in the present day shake our state and our communities to the core,” she stated.

___

Sharp reported from Portland.

Copyright 2023 The Related Press. All rights reserved.