The 11 officers were justified when they shot at a man who allegedly stole two police vehicles but never shot at them.
That’s the conclusion of investigators with the Maine attorney general’s office, which released last week their report into the shootout on Route 117 in Paris.
The officers who shot at 37-year-old Gary Porter Jr. were: Sgt. Dan Hanson and Trooper Tyler Nadeau of Maine State Police; Lt. Justin Brown and deputies Jeffrey Howe, Danielle Vienneau and William Nelson of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office; Detective Gary Hill and Cpl. Robert Ferdico of the Norway Police Department; Sgt. Allen Coffin of the Paris Police Department; and Chief Rickie Jack and Officer Michael Rioux of the Oxford Police Department.
Porter was arrested about 7:18 a.m. on May 6, 2024, after he was found sleeping in a chicken coop in Paris and an officer found Porter was wanted for failure to appear in court on a theft charge, according to the report.
He was taken to Stephen’s Memorial Hospital in Norway, where he was treated for conditions unrelated to his initial arrest. Paris Police Chief Michael Dailey then took Porter in his unmarked police truck to the Oxford County Jail in South Paris. Porter, whose hands were cuffed behind his back, was placed in the front seat, the investigators wrote.
When they arrived at the jail, Dailey got out and stored his handgun in the back seat. As he walked around to Porter’s side, Dailey saw Porter move his hands from behind his back to his front and move behind the wheel of the still-running truck. Dailey tried to get into the truck, but the doors were locked, according to the report.
The chief was thrown from the truck as Porter allegedly sped away
Officers from the Norway, Oxford and Paris police departments, Cumberland County and Oxford County sheriff’s offices, the state fire marshal’s office and Maine State Police began pursuing Porter at speeds that approached 90 mph on Route 117, also known as Buckfield Road, in Paris.
The chase came to an end when Porter ran over a spike mat and the stolen truck went off the road and into the ditch.
Lt. Brown was the first officer at the scene. Porter got out of the truck with a cellphone in his hand, and Brown believed Porter was holding Dailey’s gun. Brown ordered Porter to surrender, and Porter kept crouching and standing behind the truck’s bed.
When Porter pointed the cellphone toward Brown, the officer fired one shot.
During the ensuing bedlam, Brown shot out the window of his own cruiser, which investigators wrote could be seen on another officer’s body-worn camera. That led other officers to believe Porter was engaging in a gunbattle and opened fire. As other officers arrived at the scene and heard gunfire, they also believed that Porter was firing at police, according to the report.
Porter then stole Brown’s cruiser and drove a short distance before crashing.
When he emerged from the cruiser, he had freed one of his hands from the cuffs and had a stun gun. Officer Michael Rioux then fired several bean bag rounds at Porter, who was then placed under arrest, according to the report.
Porter was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for a gunshot wound.
After the shooting, Porter was indicted on charges of assault on an officer, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, escape, theft, eluding an officer and violating his conditions of release.
Investigators determined that Porter never fired Dailey’s gun, which was still fully loaded in the truck. Rather Porter had a cellphone in his hand but held it in a way that could be mistaken for a gun.
“Although Mr. Porter was not actually shooting at the officers, their belief that he was shooting at them based on all the facts known to them at the time was not unreasonable,” investigators wrote.
Despite the officers’ “inaccurate beliefs,” Porter had already engaged in a high-speed chase, refused to surrender and stole two police vehicles, creating an impression that he was “willing to endanger human life or inflict bodily harm,” the investigators wrote.
“All the facts and circumstances point to the conclusion that the law enforcement officers who used deadly force in attempting to arrest Mr. Porter reasonably believed that they were acting in self-defense or the defense of others,” investigators concluded.
