The Bangor Daily News was the first to report this story. What you’re reading here would likely not be made public without the efforts of professional journalists asking questions, interviewing sources and obtaining documents.
This story will be updated.
The FBI is investigating a Sunday incident in which a person allegedly ran the border and assaulted a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer in Lubec.
The officer pursued a vehicle that didn’t stop at the port of entry into the U.S. The person eventually stopped for the officer about two miles from the Lubec port of entry but fought with them and was temporarily placed in custody, Kristen Setera, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Boston office, said in response to questions from the Bangor Daily News.
The incident has been shrouded in secrecy in the days since. County, state and federal law enforcement agencies said nothing about it until Thursday. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office referred a reporter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which has not responded to multiple inquiries this week.
The alleged assault happened around 6:40 p.m., Setera said. It was just hours before Border Patrol personnel in New Hampshire shot a person who allegedly first fired shots at them early Sunday morning. The FBI did not say if the two incidents were connected.
An ambulance was asked to respond to the area of County Road in Lubec for a report of someone who was shot with a “customs officer on scene,” according to Washington County dispatch audio obtained by the BDN.
It is unclear whether anyone was actually shot. The FBI statement did not address a question on that. The office of Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, which investigates police shootings, said the incident doesn’t fall under its purview for review and declined to comment.
Dan Daley, who lives in Lubec and has announced a campaign as a Republican for the Maine House of Representatives, said in a video published on Facebook that his son-in-law saw a Border Patrol officer fighting with someone in the middle of County Road and stopped to assist.
His son-in-law eventually helped disarm the person who was fighting with the federal officer in the roadway, Daley said. He was unable to speak at length with a reporter on Thursday morning, and the son-in-law couldn’t immediately be reached.
Correction: This incident happened on Sunday. An earlier version of the story had the incorrect day.
