Sean Halsey was driving south on Interstate 295 to shop for groceries with his two children when he started hearing pops and the back window exploded.

As he realized the pops were gunshots, he stomped on the gas until he couldn’t hear them anymore and pulled over. By then, it was clear that Justin, 29, and Paige, 25, had been shot.

More than a week after they were all injured, Justin Halsey is home from the hospital and Paige, the most seriously hurt, is making progress as she recovers at Maine Medical Center, Sean Halsey said in a news conference outside the hospital on Friday.

Police say Joseph Eaton shot the Halseys on April 18 as he fired on cars while driving on I-295. He also confessed to killing his parents, Cynthia and David Eaton, and their friends, Robert and Patti Eger, at the Egers’ home in Bowdoin earlier that morning. There is no connection between Eaton and the Halseys, who are from Bowdoinham.

No charges have been filed as of yet in the shootings on the interstate. A spokesperson for the Office of the Maine Attorney General said Friday that they had no new information about when or if more charges would be filed. Eaton is being held at the Two Bridges Regional Jail on four counts of murder.

Sean Halsey, 51, said he only had a broken finger and has been able to help care for his children since the shooting. Justin Halsey, who was in the backseat, was shot in the back. He was released from the hospital this week and is receiving outpatient care at home. He had significant tissue damage and now has a device to help keep his wounds clean.

Doctors removed the final chest tube from Paige Halsey on Friday – a pivotal step in her recovery, her father said.

“She is making fantastic strides,” Sean Halsey said.

Paige Halsey was sitting in the front passenger seat when she was shot in the lower back and side.

The bullet “bounced around in her body,” Sean Halsey said.

She is now in stable condition and doctors will continue to assess her progress to determine when she’ll be able to come home. Her recovery will be a lengthy one.

“She’s got a lot of surgery incisions and stuff that are going to have to heal,” he said. “There were so many internal organs that were damaged. She has kind of a long road ahead of her.”

Despite her injuries, Paige Halsey is in good spirits and reverting back to her old self, her father said. The day after the shooting, she was still intubated but was writing notes “and giving everybody what for,” he said.

“She’s amazing and has fought really super hard. She’s excited to be able to go home and be with everybody,” he said. “It wouldn’t be the same without her.”

Sean Halsey did not speak directly about the criminal investigation but credited the work of police officers, emergency responders and staff at Maine Medical Center with saving his children’s lives.

“They may not be here if it wasn’t for them,” he said.

Earlier this week, Sean Halsey’s father died, adding to the grief the family is experiencing. He said the family is “taking things day by day, minute by minute” until they can be at home together to process everything that’s happened.

“It’s a lot and we’re doing the best we can to get through it,” he said.

The Bowdoinham community and others across the state have stepped up to help the Halsey family, organizing fundraisers and collecting money to help cover medical expenses and lost wages, said Seth Berry, a former state legislator from Bowdoinham. A GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $12,000.

“So many people in Bowdoinham have rallied around the Halseys. … It’s what Bowdoinham does,” he said.

Comments are not available on this story.

« Previous

Waterville man arrested after threat to MaineGeneral causes lockdown

Next »

Homeless in Maine: New policing protocol shifts focus to assisting homeless people who need help