A Portland police officer shot and wounded a burglary suspect early Saturday in the city’s Bayside area, the department said.
Around 5:24 a.m., officers were investigating a burglary report near the Preble Street Soup Kitchen at 252 Oxford St. when they confronted a “possible suspect” and the person was shot, the department said in a news release Saturday afternoon.
The department did not identify the officer who fired the shot or the suspect who was wounded. The person was taken to Maine Medical Center for treatment of injuries that aren’t life-threatening, according to department spokesman David Singer.
As is standard procedure in police-involved shootings, the Maine Attorney General’s Office will investigate to determine whether the use of force was justified.
No police officers were injured in the incident. The officer who shot the suspect will be placed on paid administrative leave as the investigation takes place, Singer said.
Singer declined to name the officer on Saturday afternoon, saying it was a decision for the Attorney General’s Office to make.
Marc Malon, a spokesman for the AG’s office, confirmed the office was investigating but said he couldn’t release the names of those involved.
The Portland Police Department’s website lists two shootings in the past 10 years, both of which were ruled justified by the Maine attorney general.
In February 2017, Sgt. Nicholas Goodman fatally shot 22-year-old Chance David Baker, who was carrying a BB gun in the parking lot of a shopping plaza on St. John Street. The shooting was justified because Goodman believed Baker was carrying a lethal weapon, the attorney general’s investigation found.
Baker’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the department and the pawnshop that sold him the air rifle, and his name became a rallying cry for Black Lives Matter protesters last summer.
In November 2011, Officer Robert Miller shot Jonathan Mitchell, 29, during a vehicle chase that was part of a burglary investigation. Miller shot Mitchell as the suspect was attempting to escape in his car. Mitchell survived, and the Attorney General’s Office ruled the shooting justified because, under Maine law, officers may use deadly force to make an arrest or prevent a subject’s escape – if they believe the subject has committed, or intends to commit, a crime that endangers human life.
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