AUGUSTA – Tension spiked Friday when a car owned by a neighbor of a Marine Corps veteran killed by police was found parked next to the site of Thursday’s shooting.

A Buick with veterans plates belonging to Douglas Borland, age unknown, was spotted Friday a few feet from where a Togus police officer and a Maine game warden shot James F. Popkowski. Borland lives near Popkowski’s home in Medway, a town of about 1,400 people 60 miles north of Bangor.

“Our police received reports there was a vehicle parked in the same area as (Thursday), which is suspicious,” said James Doherty, spokesman for the Togus VA Medical Center. “They went ahead and began searching the area.”

Borland was found in the woods, not far from the car, Doherty said. He was not carrying a weapon.

Police confirmed Borland’s identification and spoke to him. Doherty did not have details of that conversation and he did not know why Borland was in the area.

Borland left the property when asked.

“He wasn’t charged,” Doherty said. “We’re just being extra judicious.”

Several officers from the Augusta police force and Maine State Police assisted Togus police at the scene. Togus medical facilities went to a modified lockdown, Doherty said. Access was restricted to buildings closest to the woods.

“Based on what’s happened, we’re just taking every precaution to protect the veterans and the staff,” Doherty said.

Togus work crews subsequently placed concrete barriers to prevent vehicle access to the turnoff near the shooting site.

Meanwhile, the state medical examiner said Friday that Popkowski, 37, died of a single gunshot wound to the neck.

The state Attorney General’s Office continued to investigate the events leading up to Thursday’s shooting. Part of that investigation is trying to determine whether Popkowski shot at hospital staff or patients.

“He did fire shots,” Doherty said. “We don’t know exactly where they were aimed.”

Kate Simmons, spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office, declined to comment on whether Popkowski had targeted hospital staff or patients, or whether he had ever threatened anyone associated with the hospital.

Police began searching the woods near the medical center after hospital employees reported hearing gunshots around 9 a.m. Thursday.

They shot and killed Popkowski, a former Marine first lieutenant, who was reportedly carrying a firearm.

Attorney General Janet Mills said early information indicated that Popkowski was “carrying (the weapon) in a threatening manner.”

In 2003, Popkowski was diagnosed with a rare cancer called hepatosplenic gamma-delta T-cell lymphoma.

He had been treated with stem cells — a treatment he later said led to a malady called graft-versus-host disease.

The disease, according to an Internet posting left by Popkowski in 2008, left him in pain and caused sleeplessness and debilitating depression.

A family friend said the cancer cut short Popkowski’s military career, according to The Associated Press.

Doherty has confirmed that Popkowski received health care at the Togus facility, but confidentiality protections barred him from giving the dates or reasons for the treatment.

Togus police officer Thomas Park and Maine Warden Service Sgt. Ron Dunham, who Mills said were involved in the shooting, are on paid administrative leave pending the state investigation.

Another warden service member, Joey Lefebvre, witnessed the confrontation but wasn’t involved in the shooting. He also is on paid leave.

Park is the first officer in the department’s history to be involved in a fatal shooting, said Togus Police Chief Dennis Passamore.

 

Copy the Story Link