A York County deputy who fatally shot a New Hampshire man in Waterboro in 2022 should have called for backup and was “misguided” in his decision to confront the suspect alone, according to the Maine Deadly Force Review Panel.

Tyler Woodburn and fiancée Megan Sweeney with their daughter Lilith Woodburn, 1. Photo courtesy of Megan Sweeney

The panel also said Deputy Levi Johnson’s life was likely saved by family members who intervened when the man tried to take the deputy’s gun, but found no need for training or other changes.

The Office of the Maine Attorney General previously ruled Johnson was acting in self-defense when he shot Tyler Woodburn, 30, on Sept. 7, 2022, while the men wrestled for control of a gun during a tense encounter outside of a house on Rosemont Avenue.

Johnson was responding alone to a 911 call reporting Woodburn was driving while intoxicated with his fiancée in the car. The caller said Woodburn may have a gun in the car and said he was likely to be violent if confronted by police.

The 11-member panel reviews deaths or serious injuries resulting from the use of deadly force after the attorney general’s office determines if the use of force was justified. (It has never found a police shooting in Maine unjustified). The panel examines if the actions follow best practices and recommends changes if needed. The panel has reviewed and issued reports on 32 incidents since 2017.

Johnson was initially placed on leave after the shooting, as is standard after a police shooting in Maine, but has since returned to work, Sheriff Bill King confirmed.

WOODBURN’S DEATH

During the Waterboro review, panel members looked at all of the original investigative data, including interview recordings and reports, cruiser camera footage and forensic reports, photographs and emergency communications. They also reviewed the attorney general’s 2023 report and the report from the York County Sheriff’s Office incident review team.

York Sheriff’s Deputy Levi Johnson holds an owl he helped rescue from the side of a Waterboro road in December. Stacy Thistlewood, Courtesy of York Sheriff’s Office

According to those documents, Johnson was unable to find the pickup truck the 911 caller said Woodburn was driving. He drove to the house on Rosemont Avenue where Woodburn was staying with his fiancée and her family and saw the truck in the driveway. Megan Sweeney, Woodburn’s fiancée, later said she saw her mother outside talking to the deputy but didn’t know why he was there.

As Woodburn came outside, Johnson told him he was investigating a call that Woodburn was driving under the influence. When Woodburn went back inside, Johnson “opened the door, grabbed his arm and escorted him onto a deck and down the steps to the ground,” Attorney General Aaron Frey wrote in his 2023 report.

The two men began to struggle when Woodburn pulled away from the deputy, then grabbed the back of Johnson’s neck to push his head down, according to the report. Johnson tried unsuccessfully several times to deploy his Taser as Johnson tried to take it from him.

They continued to struggle on the ground, with Woodburn on top of the deputy trying to pull his gun from its holster until Sweeney and her mother tried to restrain Woodburn. Johnson was able to get back on his feet, but Woodburn lunged at the deputy as he tried to reload the Taser.

Believing that Woodburn was again trying to grab his weapon, Johnson shot Woodburn twice in the chest. He died at the scene.

PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS

The review panel report, released this week by the attorney general’s office, includes several observations about the incident, including that Woodburn was intoxicated and had a history of domestic violence-related arrests in New Hampshire that involved firearms.

The panel said Johnson’s decision to enter the residence alone was “misguided” and that he “perhaps should have sought additional information before acting and waited for backup.”

“The need for immediate intervention was questionable without evidence of imminent harm to anyone,” the members observed.

The panel said Johnson’s use of a Taser seems to have been a tool he “resorted to only after he was in peril and was not appropriately deployed in that there was not the necessary space or distance between Deputy Johnson and Mr. Woodburn to use the tool effectively.”

Panel members also pointed out that Johnson “was likely saved by family members who intervened during the physical struggle that occurred when Mr. Woodburn tried to take Deputy Johnson’s firearm from its holster.”

In its recommendations, the panel said that where there is no imminent danger or harm to anyone, an officer should request backup “in situations like this since the presence of several officers usually discourages a suspect who may be prone to struggle with a single officer.”

The panel also recommended dispatch centers consider creating call types — such as domestic violence calls — that automatically trigger a two-officer response and encouraged additional training on the use of Tasers.

It also recommended that the agency consider adding to its internal review team representatives of other disciplines, such as people certified as defense tactics instructors and emergency communications specialists.

King said he is thankful the panel did a thorough review of the incident and pointed out that the nature of rural patrol often means backup is not readily available, but declined to discuss the report further.