close
close

Lewiston shooting commission receives another hearing from state police

The independent commission investigating the Lewiston shooting meets for the 12th time Friday. The hearing at Lewiston City Hall will also feature a member of the Maine State Police, as a follow-up to his Feb. 15 testimony. Reported problems with police communication and coordination in the tense hours after Maine’s deadliest mass shooting will likely be scrutinized. You can watch Friday’s hearing live in the video player above when it begins at 9 a.m. Well-meaning officers causing chaos by showing up uninvited and officers arriving presumably drunk in a tactical vehicle are some of the “troubling allegations” brought to the commission, Chairman Daniel Wathen said last week. The details were laid out in a Portland police dispatch report, but the claims were denied by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. It’s unclear what exactly is on the table at Friday’s meeting. Wathen said some of the things included in the report were outside the commission’s scope and best handled by police supervisors. Representatives from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and Portland Police Department said they would not send officers to testify Friday. The commission previously heard testimony from police officials about the evening of Oct. 25, when law enforcement mobilized for a search as additional officers flooded into the area. State police took over coordination of the search for the shooter, whose body was found dead of a suicide two days later.

The independent commission investigating the Lewiston shooting will meet for the twelfth time on Friday.

The hearing at Lewiston City Hall will also feature a member of the Maine State Police, continuing his testimony from Feb. 15. Reported problems with police communication and coordination in the tense hours after Maine’s deadliest mass killing are likely to be examined.

You can watch the hearing live on Friday in the video player above when it begins at 9 a.m.

Well-meaning officers caused chaos by showing up uninvited, and officers arrived in a tactical vehicle, presumably drunk, were just some of the “disturbing allegations” brought to the commission, Chairman Daniel Wathen said last week.

The details were laid out in a Portland police incident report, but the claims were denied by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

It is still unclear what exactly will be on the table at Friday’s meeting. Wathen said some of the issues in the report are outside the commission’s remit and are best addressed by the police oversight board.

Representatives from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and Portland Police said they would not send officers to testify on Friday.

The commission had previously heard testimony from law enforcement officials about the evening of Oct. 25, when law enforcement was mobilized for a search as additional police officers flooded into the area. State police took over the coordination of the search for the shooter, whose body was found dead two days later. He had committed suicide.