Police are no longer investigating an April 12 shooting on B Street in South Portland after determining the victim’s gunshot wounds were self-inflicted.
“We do not think it’s suspicious anymore,” South Portland Police Lt. Chris Todd said on Monday. “Every indication is that there was not foul play, and we’re not looking for anybody.”
Police have not released the name of the victim, a 19-year-old man from Portland who is being treated in the intensive care unit at Maine Medical Center.
In a statement released hours after the shooting, a spokesperson for South Portland police initially called the incident “suspicious” and reported that the victim had died in the hospital. The next day, police issued a correction noting the victim had survived and was on life support.
A closer examination of the evidence suggested the man had shot himself, Todd said. He said he could not comment on whether the shooting was intentional or an accident.
A friend who discovered the victim believed the shot was self-inflicted, according to a 911 call transcript obtained by the Press Herald.
The caller returned home to get ready for work and found the victim, who had been sleeping on the caller’s couch for a few days, unconscious in the kitchen and covered in blood. A gun was near his feet. The caller initially told dispatchers the friend was dead.
“I don’t even know why he had a gun,” the caller said.
Moments later, the caller confirmed the victim was still breathing but said he had lost a lot of blood. The dispatcher attempted to calm the caller down enough to provide basic first aid before emergency responders arrived on the scene.
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