Moment Maine police fire at suspect who jumped behind the wheel of cop car
Maine sheriff’s deputies unleashed a wall of gunfire at a suspect who was reportedly handcuffed and wearing a hospital gown — but still managed to jump behind the wheel of a police cruiser and drive away.
The footage shows the end of a harrowing pursuit, which involved the man engaging in a running gun battle with police the shattered the peace in a rural area about 20 miles northwest of Lewiston.
Footage from the confrontation on Route 117 in South Paris shows the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office blocking all lanes as a person climbs out of a vehicle that was stopped off the road, CBS 13 reports.
As the suspect, who has yet to be identified, moves towards an adjacent squad car, officers can be heard yelling, “Put your hands up!”
The suspect does not comply and instead rushes to open the sheriff’s office SUV, triggering one officer to fire a shot.
The suspect then closes the door and starts up the squad car, with deputies firing another shot.
But once the car begins to move, the officers appear to unload their weapons at the driver as the vehicle disappears from view.
The suspect was then quickly arrested and taken to the nearby Stephens Memorial Hospital to be treated for his injuries.
His condition was not immediately clear.
The Oxford County Sheriff’s Office said no one else was injured as a result of the incident.
Linda Marie Mercier, a witness, told ABC 8 that police had been in a shootout with the man, who was reportedly handcuffed and wearing a hospital gown.
“They’ve been shooting back-and-forth. I’m not sure if he’s been apprehended or not, but he came running out of the ditch and jumped into another police vehicle and they had to chase him some more,” she said in a Facebook post.
“Have some video it’s good up until the point where he comes out of the ditch in his handcuffs and hospital gown, but once the bullet started flying, unfortunately I duck down behind my car so I didn’t get any more footage, but you can hear it.”
The Maine Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation into the shooting, as per state protocol for any police-related shooting.
