Police have identified the man who allegedly crashed a truck into and fired a rifle at a Rumford home on Tuesday evening, sending the neighborhood into a lockdown.
Billy Morvent, 59, has been charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, reckless conduct and aggravated criminal mischief, according to Rumford police Chief Tony Milligan.
Additional charges are expected as the investigation continues.
Police received 911 calls about 8 p.m. reporting gunfire coming from Morvent’s home on Route 232 in Rumford Corner village and that he had left and allegedly crashed his vehicle into another home just down the road and was firing a rifle at people and the home, Milligan said Wednesday afternoon.
That home was then set ablaze.
Three people took cover in a nearby ditch, while Morvent fled with the rifle into the neighborhood, Milligan said.
That sent the neighborhood into a lockdown, with police telling residents to shelter in place and lock their doors.
Police tracked Morvent back to his home, where negotiators convinced him to surrender peacefully about 1 a.m. Thursday.
Morvent was taken to Rumford Hospital and then transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he was treated for life-threatening injuries from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Milligan said that Morvent was in stable condition at the Portland hospital, where he remains under police guard.
During a search of his home, police seized several guns, including an AR-style rifle, and a large cache of ammunition, according to Milligan.
No other injuries were reported.
The shooting remains under investigation, and no additional information was immediately available.
