POWNAL — A 19-year-old Portland man was shot in the arm by a 17-year-old boy at a house on Elmwood Road on Monday, June 8.
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department said Tristam W. Coffin, of Stevens Avenue in Portland, was taken to Maine Medical Center for a non-life threatening bullet wound and had surgery. According to deputies, the 9mm handgun was Coffin’s and was being handled in an “unsafe manner” by the 17-year-old.
Deputies declined to identify the teen-ager because he is a juvenile.
“If you’ve never heard it before, hear it now,” Sheriff’s Department Capt. Don Goulet said Tuesday afternoon. “Always assume a gun is loaded. In this case, there were some incorrect assumptions made.”
Freeport Police and Rescue and sheriff’s deputies responded to the emergency call just before 6 p.m. on Monday.
Goulet said the investigation indicates the shooting was accidental, but once the case is complete it will still be reviewed by the Cumberland County district attorney’s office to see if charges are warranted.
There was no one else home at the time of the shooting.
Amy Anderson can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 110 or aanderson@theforecaster.net.
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