Police shot a machete-wielding man on the Merrymeeting Bridge in Topsham early Tuesday morning.
Joseph Mendez, 33, called the Sagadahoc County Regional Communications Center about 1:32 a.m. to thank dispatchers for their service and then told an on-duty dispatcher that they would be finding him soon, according to Topsham police Chief Marc Hagan.
The dispatcher traced the location of the call on the Merrymeeting Bridge, which carried Route 196 over the Androscoggin River between Topsham and Brunswick.
Officers Matthew Bowers and Frasier Vachon went to the bridge, where they tried to talk with Mendez and get him to drop a machete, Hagan said Tuesday morning.
Mendez allegedly advanced toward the officers, brandishing the machete. He was shot during the confrontation.
Mendez allegedly resisted the officers, who then used a stun gun to subdue him.
He was taken to Mid-Coast Hospital in Brunswick before being transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland for treatment. Mendez is expected to survive, Hagan said.
Bowers and Vachon have been placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure. The Maine attorney general’s office is investigating the shooting, as is standard procedure whenever a Maine law enforcement officer uses deadly force.
Hagan referred all questions to the attorney general’s office.
