A month after Saco shooting, police still tight-lipped about investigation

Parents wait as students are released from school, watched by local police, outside Thornton Academy following a shooting on Feb. 9. Charles Krupa/Associated Press

A month after a shooting in downtown Saco prompted a shelter-in-place order and lockdowns at nearby schools, no arrests have been made and police remain largely silent about the investigation.

“We’re still running down all the leads and working with other agencies doing follow-up on this,” Deputy Chief Corey Huntress said Friday.

Huntress said he could not release new information – including whether the suspects have been identified – because it would hamper their police work.

“The investigation is still very active and ongoing,” he said. “There is no ongoing public safety threat where residents should be concerned.”

Saco police are working with other police agencies both within and outside of Maine, as well as federal law enforcement partners, Huntress said.

The shooting began around noon on Feb. 9 on Elm Street (Route 1), not far from a shopping center. Three men in a Honda HR-V fired shots at a Dodge Charger while the vehicles were traveling north. It is unknown how many people were in the Dodge and whether they were shooting.

The Honda SUV sped through a red light and crashed into another car, causing both vehicles to hit a stopped Old Orchard Beach school bus. No one on the bus was injured.

Three men jumped out of the wrecked SUV and ran through residential neighborhoods toward Thornton Academy.

Police say they believe one of the men had been shot in the arm and that a gun was found in the back of the abandoned SUV.

Police investigate the scene of a crash at the intersection of Elm and North streets following a shooting on Feb. 9 in Saco. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Police from across southern Maine descended on the city as officers blocked off roads and brought in K9 units to search the area. Officers also used a drone to search a house where blood had been found on a porch and shed. Thornton students were forced into lockdown and finally released to their parents hours after the end of the school day.

The Charger was found later that evening at a home off Route 25 in Standish. The home and surrounding area were searched and no suspects were found.

In the days after the incident, Saco police released photos of the suspects taken by Old Orchard Beach students on the bus. But they have said little else about the investigation other than to reassure the public there is no ongoing risk to their safety.