Maine State Police have a good idea how the fatal shooting of a Rochester, New Hampshire, man in Saco transpired over the weekend but are reluctant to go into great detail now because the investigation is continuing, a spokesman said Sunday night.
State police said that Michael Burns, 53, was shot on the front porch of a home at 26 Nye St. just before 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said the tenant who shot Burns notified police. Two other persons were inside the home at the time. None of the three knew Burns, who died en route to the hospital.
State police have not identified the tenant who shot Burns.
“We have a very good idea of what transpired, but we’re not going to be releasing any information tonight,” McCausland said Sunday night.
McCausland said detectives still have a lot of work ahead of them. Police are waiting for the results of an autopsy conducted by the state medical examiner’s office. More interviews need to be conducted and forensic tests on the gun that was used are being analyzed.
So far no one has been charged in the death of Burns, who was shot on the enclosed front porch of the two-story, wood frame duplex at 1:21 a.m.
The home where the shooting occurred is located in a quiet neighborhood of mostly single-family homes near the center of the city.
In an interview Saturday with the Press Herald, a neighbor described the first-floor tenant as a friendly man in his 40s who enjoys chatting about their mutual interest in guns.
The man lives alone and helps maintain the Nye Street property, according to Mark St. Ours, who lives across the street from the duplex. St. Ours said the man clears snow and mows the lawn, and sometimes when mowing he wears a handgun holstered on his hip.
Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard contributed to this report.
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