PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Maine Attorney General Janet Mills has ruled a state police trooper was justified in shooting and wounding a suspect during a confrontation in Searsmont in September.
Leonard Maker confronted trooper James MacDonald with a shotgun at Maker’s father’s home while MacDonald and another trooper were attempting to serve a protection from abuse order on Maker. Mills said in a statement released Friday that MacDonald shot Maker in the hand when the trooper retreated and fired his handgun.
Mills said MacDonald was justified in believing “unlawful deadly force was imminently threatened against him” and the other trooper.
Maker was treated at a hospital for his wounds. He was later indicted for felony and misdemeanor charges.
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