A Waldoboro man was killed in a shootout with police early Sunday that also injured an officer.

Officer John Lash exchanged gunfire with an occupant of the home at 81 River Bend Road, who was identified as Jon M. Alspaugh, 57. The shootout erupted inside the residence, and Alspaugh was mortally wounded, police said.

Waldoboro Police Chief Bill Labombarde said Sunday night that Lash was shot in his upper torso but was probably spared more serious injury because he was wearing a bulletproof vest.

Lash and another officer, Sgt. Jamie Wilson, were called to the home around 1 a.m. Sunday to investigate the report of a domestic disturbance.

“I can’t get into those kinds of details,” Labombarde said when asked to explain the nature of the disturbance.

Labombarde said that two other people were in the home with Alspaugh when the shootout occurred. They were not injured.

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A neighbor told WCSH-TV that Alspaugh lived in the home with his wife and his mother-in-law.

“To find out what happened this morning, it is surprising. … They’ve always been nice, seemed like a good couple. Never had any issues with them,” Joshua Smith told the Portland television station.

Lash’s bulletproof vest absorbed the shot, but he was taken to the Miles Campus of LincolnHealth, a health care center in Damariscotta, where he was checked out by doctors and released a short time later, according to the police chief.

As is standard procedure in police-involved shootings, Lash, who has been employed by the police department for three years, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation by the Maine Attorney General’s Office to determine if the shooting was justified. Labombarde said Wilson was not placed on leave.

The Attorney General’s Office said Sunday night that there have been 73 officer-involved shootings in Maine since 2007, including one involving Gregori Jackson, an 18-year-old man who was shot and killed by Waldoboro police Officer Zachary Curtis on Sept. 23, 2007. The AG’s Office ruled that Curtis’ use of deadly force was justified.

Of the 73 officer-involved shootings, 36 resulted in the death of an individual, according to figures supplied by the AG’s Office.

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There were six officer-involved shootings in 2016, including two that resulted in death.

According to The Courier-Gazette, Alspaugh was assistant director of the Rockland wastewater treatment plant. The newspaper quoted City Manager Audra Caler Bell as saying that Alspaugh was hired by the city last year.

The home where the shooting occurred is located at the end of a long dirt road, off Route 32. The Courier-Gazette reported that the home is owned by Alspaugh’s mother-in-law. The family has lived in Waldoboro for about 17 years.

Investigators told the Rockland newspaper that Alspaugh did not have a criminal record. Police had not been called to the property before Sunday’s shooting.

Waldoboro police said in a news release that the Attorney General’s Office and Maine State Police are handling the investigation of the shootout.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com


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