ME - 4 dead in Bowdoin, others injured in connected shooting on interstate 1 suspect in custody, a second possibly on the loose, April 18th, 2023

[DS2021]

4 dead in Bowdoin, linked to shooting on I-295 in Yarmouth

State police say a person of interest has been detained and there is no threat to the public.

www.sunjournal.com

 

[Vern]

Unreal.

 

[DS2021]

From above source.

Police initially searched for a possible second suspect “out of an abundance of caution,” a spokesperson for the Maine State Police said, but there is no longer a threat to the public.

I'm curious what caused that shift in opinion. They initially had K9s out there

 

[Eli9]

Article title states suspect is in custody but no further mention of it within the article. I'll keep looking.

Maine Shootings: 4 Dead, 3 Injured, Suspect In Custody

The suspect is in custody, police say.

www.forbes.com

 

[Eli9]

I-295 shooting linked to killings of 4 in Bowdoin, police say

The deaths of four people discovered at a Bowdoin home on Tuesday is apparently linked to a shooting that injured three on Interstate 295.

www.bangordailynews.com

One person has been detained and police say they are no longer searching for a potential second person of interest and there is no threat to the public, Lt. Randall Keaten of the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit told reporters on Tuesday.




Keaten said the earlier Bowdoin incident at a home on Augusta Road, which had been reported separately, was linked to the highway shooting more than 30 miles away. He did not say how they were linked or whether the deaths are suspected to be a homicide but their bodies were expected to be taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta for autopsies.

 

[tlcya]

Maine Shootings: 4 Dead, 3 Injured, Suspect In Custody​

State police in Yarmouth, Maine, said they have a suspect in custody after a shooting on Interstate 295 left three people injured Tuesday, and in a separate but connected case four people were found dead in a home 25 miles away in Bowdoin, Maine, police said.
[snip]
Police found the suspect in a wooded area off the highway and said there is no further threat to the public, Keaten said.

 

[DS2021]

It sounds like each victim was driving a separate vehicle. What the heck is going on

4 dead in Bowdoin, 3 shot on I-295: Police confirm both are connected

Officials have not confirmed how many were taken to a hospital, but state at least one person has serious injuries.

www.wmtw.com

 

[tlcya]

I wonder if the first murders were by a family member or close associate and the 295 shootings were attempts by suspect to creating a suicide by cop scenario?

Very odd case. Waiting to find out more info and understand how it all ties in with both crimes being related.

 

[GreenHairedGirlie]

This is crazy. I lived a couple of miles up the road from the house in Bowdoin for a few years. Very very quiet area

 

[ifindedout]

Initial CS here:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[DS2021]

4 dead in Bowdoin, 3 shot on I-295: Arrest made on murder charges

Joseph Eaton, 34, of Bowdoin is in custody. Officials say he has been charged with the murder of all four victims found inside a the home.

www.wmtw.com

Joseph Eaton, 34, of Bowdoin is in custody. Officials say he has been charged with the murder of all four victims.

 

[DS2021]

Press conference 3pm on Wednesday

Man accused of Bowdoin killings had just been released from prison

The day before Joseph Eaton is accused of fatally shooting his parents and two family friends, he took to Facebook to lament his struggles and question why people 'claim to be Christian and can't forgive somebody or understand what they go through.'

www.pressherald.com

 

[DS2021]

Man allegedly guns down parents and their 2 friends days after his release from prison

Three drivers were shot on a Maine interstate on Tuesday shortly after four people were found dead in a nearby home.

abcnews.go.com

 

[Eli9]

Man allegedly guns down parents and their 2 friends days after his release from prison

Three drivers were shot on a Maine interstate on Tuesday shortly after four people were found dead in a nearby home.

abcnews.go.com

His mother was the one who picked him up at the time of his release and he was staying with the Egers who were 72 and 62! Where on earth did he get the gun. So sad.

 

[tlcya]

Just tragic all around. The Egers, who were trying to help, his parents who ostensibly supported him (likely arranged for him to stay with the Egers), the poor people on the highway who had the horrible luck to be in the wrong palce at the wrong time when this man was making his great escape after the murder of his parents and their friends. This man clearly wasn't ready to be out in society.
-----------------------------------
Eaton's criminal history dates back to 2008, in Kansas. His case files note he had been charged for the burglary of a home in 2008, sentenced in 2009, then released in 2010.

In May 2018, the 34-year-old from Bowdoin was sentenced to three years in jail on three counts of aggravated assault on a first responder in Nassau County, Florida.
Man charged with Bowdoin murders released from jail days prior

released on Feb. 15, 2021

sentenced for assault in Maine on March 1, 2021

released on April 14, 2023

Murdered 4 and shot 3 more April 18

 

[Eli9]

Sounds like in addition to being quite the criminal he also had MH issues as well.

Suspect in Maine massacre asked for forgiveness on Facebook

The suspect in the murders of four people in a home in Maine on Monday tearfully begged for forgiveness a day before in a Facebook video.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[housewife]

Just tragic all around. The Egers, who were trying to help, his parents who ostensibly supported him (likely arranged for him to stay with the Egers), the poor people on the highway who had the horrible luck to be in the wrong palce at the wrong time when this man was making his great escape after the murder of his parents and their friends. This man clearly wasn't ready to be out in society.
-----------------------------------
Eaton's criminal history dates back to 2008, in Kansas. His case files note he had been charged for the burglary of a home in 2008, sentenced in 2009, then released in 2010.

In May 2018, the 34-year-old from Bowdoin was sentenced to three years in jail on three counts of aggravated assault on a first responder in Nassau County, Florida.
Man charged with Bowdoin murders released from jail days prior

released on Feb. 15, 2021

sentenced for assault in Maine on March 1, 2021

released on April 14, 2023

Murdered 4 and shot 3 more April 18

What a piece of work. He even assaulted a first responder… but the “aggravated” assault means he used a weapon, was it a gun back then, too?

 

[Sundog]

Sounds like in addition to being quite the criminal he also had MH issues as well.

Suspect in Maine massacre asked for forgiveness on Facebook

The suspect in the murders of four people in a home in Maine on Monday tearfully begged for forgiveness a day before in a Facebook video.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Seems he has a criminal record that includes illegal possession of a firearm, so I guess he would know how to get a firearm pretty quickly after his release from prison. Maybe he already had one lined up, through his connections both inside and outside of prison.

Wonder if he took any drugs over the weekend, what led him to murder his mother, father, and their two friends. Then shoot at people in their cars on the interstate.

 

[everybodhi]

He somehow either had received guns after his release or his parents had guns in the home.

Court documents describe grisly discovery in Maine shootings

[Patricia Eger's] sister who discovered a crime scene in which four people were shot to death arrived to broken glass, bullet holes, blood and guns strewn about the home

The affidavit noted all bodies were covered and that the family dog had been killed as well.

Investigators discovered an unsigned note on an island in the kitchen that referenced that someone had been molested, nothing was done about it and the writer wanted to be freed of pain.

The day before the shooting, a man believed to be Joseph Eaton posted an anguished live video on social media that referenced trauma including molestation. “Being molested and stuff, you know, it destroys somebody,” the man said. He also criticized people who call themselves Christians but are unwilling to forgive.

 

[everybodhi]

Seems he has a criminal record that includes illegal possession of a firearm, so I guess he would know how to get a firearm pretty quickly after his release from prison. Maybe he already had one lined up, through his connections both inside and outside of prison.

Wonder if he took any drugs over the weekend, what led him to murder his mother, father, and their two friends. Then shoot at people in their cars on the interstate.

This article has a lot of info.

Court documents describe grisly discovery in Maine shootings

Police previously said Eaton told them he began firing on several cars along I-295 soon thereafter because he thought he was being followed by police.