Three shootings in Lewiston, one fatal, are still under investigation

LEWISTON – According to local police, police do not rule out that a shooting on Saturday night and two shootings on Sunday night could be related.

About an hour after Lewiston police were called to Rideout Avenue late Sunday night for a deceased gunshot wound victim, dispatch received calls about shots fired on Knox Street.

In a Facebook post, police said they were called to the incident at 54 Knox Street at 11:28 p.m. on Sunday and discovered over a dozen bullet casings on the street.

No one was hit by the shots, but several bullets damaged nearby property, police said.

Several possible witnesses who police believed were on the street during the shooting refused to cooperate with the investigation, they said.

Puddles of water and matted grass are still visible where a teenager was found dead at 77 Rideout Ave. in Lewiston on Sunday evening, according to a witness Monday morning. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Police had already received reports of gunshots at 77 Rideout Avenue around 10:30 p.m. When they arrived, police discovered 17-year-old Sahal Murdi of Lewiston dead in the street.

Witnesses at the scene said they saw a Mercedes and a black Dodge Challenger with temporary license plates flee the scene. Police identified the driver of the Mercedes, who is cooperating with the investigation.

As is customary in murder investigations, the Maine State Police took over the investigation on Sunday.

Murdi’s body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy.

Multiple reports of gunfire led police to 253 Blake Street around 8:20 p.m. Saturday, where they found a firearm, shell casings and a vehicle riddled with bullet holes in the adjacent parking lot.

Blake Street residents said they saw a man exit his vehicle in the street and approach the parking lot and fire shots at an occupied vehicle. A nearby building was struck and the suspect and victim both fled the scene in their respective vehicles.

There was no evidence at the crime scene that anyone was hit by the gunfire.

Lewiston police Lt. Derrick St. Laurent said Monday that investigations into all three shootings are ongoing and police are not ruling out a possible connection.

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