Daniel Tibbetts does not bear in mind a lot of what occurred after a police officer shot him exterior his house within the Oxford County city of Mexico on the evening of Oct. 13 final 12 months.
The 22-year-old had simply had an argument along with his girlfriend, and he got down to kill himself, Tibbetts recounted not too long ago. He has struggled with psychological sickness most of his life, as a result of he misplaced his dad as a 4-year-old, Tibbetts mentioned. His mom died in 2017, compounding his psychological well being struggles with him.
After the argument, he grabbed a machete and stepped exterior to start out slashing his wrists, Tibbetts mentioned.
Moments later, he heard yelling from behind him, however he could not make out what was being mentioned. Then he felt what he thought have been paintballs hitting his face, abdomen and proper leg. He fell to the bottom.
He seemed down at his abdomen and leg and noticed blood. A Mexico police officer had shot him 3 times.
Tibbetts’ case marked the third police taking pictures since October 2021 in Mexico, an uncommon quantity for a small city of roughly 2,700 individuals, the place residents have been rattled by the violence.
“To have three taking pictures incidents in a row is totally regarding,” mentioned one resident who spoke on the situation of anonymity over concern of potential backlash from police. “It has positively made me query my security and the protection of my household, the place we dwell.”
The comparatively small numbers alone make it inconceivable to attract a statistical conclusion in regards to the shootings, however they’ve raised questions on what occurred. Thus far, the neighborhood has not obtained solutions as a consequence of a protracted overview interval by state investigators, underscoring challenges in understanding how police carry out their jobs even after they shoot somebody.
“It’s fascinating {that a} city that has lower than 3,000 individuals has had three incidents within the final 12 months,” mentioned Brian Pitman, a College of Maine sociologist who focuses on criminology. “That’s simply, anecdotally, quite a bit. One thing appears off about that for certain.”
Nestled into the hills that overlook Rumford and the close by 9 Dragons Mill, Mexico is a largely a bed room neighborhood, with a median family earnings of about $31,000, lower than half the statewide common.
In 2021, the Mexico Police Division reported that it dealt with 247 instances that have been largely nonviolent property crimes, equivalent to vandalism and larceny, in keeping with the Maine State Police. Thomas Tellier was charged with homicide on Aug. 7 within the city’s most up-to-date murder case after police mentioned he shot and killed his stepson, Nicholas Trynor.
Mexico has been the positioning of 5 police shootings courting again to 1995, tying it with the a lot bigger inhabitants facilities of Augusta and Auburn. Solely Portland, Lewiston and Bangor—Maine’s largest cities—have seen police use lethal drive extra often in these 27 years.
Each police taking pictures prompts a overview from the Maine lawyer common’s workplace to find out whether or not the officer was justified in utilizing lethal drive. However the workplace hasn’t accomplished critiques for any of the three most up-to-date shootings involving the Mexico Police Division.
State legislation additionally requires that the shootings immediate inner critiques on the division that turn out to be public. But when the division has finished them, it has not launched them. The chief mentioned there have been no public paperwork obtainable to share in response to a BDN request.
three shootings
Tibbetts was shot in October exterior his Roxbury Street house by Mexico police Officer Dustin Broughton, who responded to a report of a home violence disturbance.
Lower than two months earlier than, on Aug. 31, Mexico police Lt. Derek MacDonald and Rumford police Officer Bradley Gallant shot Brandon Dearborn a couple of mile away within the Solar Valley Circle house complicated.
Like Tibbetts, Dearborn survived his encounter with the Mexico police.
Nearly a 12 months earlier, on Oct. 8, 2021, Matthew Marston, 29, died after Broughton shot him. The circumstances round Marston’s demise nonetheless aren’t clear, however it’s recognized that Broughton shot him on a stretch of US Route 2 in neighboring Dixfield. Nevertheless, the Maine health worker’s workplace finally decided his demise from him to be a suicide.
The lawyer common’s workplace hasn’t launched primary details about the circumstances that led as much as the three shootings as a result of it is nonetheless finishing its investigations.
As a result of these critiques are pending, one other state process drive often called the Lethal Pressure Evaluation Panel hasn’t accomplished its examination to find out whether or not police adopted finest practices. The panel can even recommend modifications to police coaching or guidelines.
However Broughton and MacDonald have returned to common obligation, Mexico police Chief Roy Hodsdon confirmed. Gallant has additionally returned to obligation for the Rumford police, in keeping with Chief Tony Milligan.
The Bangor Every day Information obtained video footage of all three shootings from the lawyer common’s workplace via a public information request. However the footage, from police dashboard and physique cameras, has been so considerably minimize that all of them final lower than a minute and virtually solely present the second when Broughton and MacDonald fired their weapons.
Native officers are tight-lipped in regards to the shootings. Mexico City Supervisor Raquel Welch-Day declined to remark, as did Hodsdon.
The chief additionally denied a BDN public information request for extra footage from the three shootings and referred all inquiries to the lawyer common’s workplace, which additionally denied a request to launch further footage.
Rumford police denied a request for extra footage from Gallant’s physique digital camera within the Aug. 31 taking pictures of Dearborn.
Beneath Maine legislation, the lawyer common’s workplace since 1995 has investigated each time an officer used lethal drive, and has cleared officers of wrongdoing in every of its 171 taking pictures instances, discovering police moderately believed their very own or others’ lives have been at risk. However 21 lethal drive investigations stay open, with the oldest courting again to 2018. These embrace the three most up-to-date shootings involving the Mexico Police Division.
In 2021, Maine attorneys, with assist from the lawyer common’s workplace, handed a legislation requiring that the workplace full its lethal drive investigations inside 180 days, in keeping with Danna Hayes, a spokesperson for Legal professional Common Aaron Frey.
The workplace has not too long ago labored via a “important backlog” of investigations, Hayes mentioned, however it additionally has been pressured to give attention to newer instances to satisfy the brand new statutory obligations.
‘Shoot me lifeless’
The BDN tried to piece collectively what occurred in every of the final three shootings via interviews, court docket paperwork, critiques of obtainable video footage and requests for different public information. However quite a bit continues to be unknown.
Dearborn was charged with reckless conduct with a firearm, receiving stolen property and possession of a firearm by a prohibited particular person after he allegedly stole a handgun from a home near Solar Valley Circle and pointed it at a number of individuals, in keeping with a police affidavit.
The body-worn digital camera footage the BDN obtained reveals two totally different views of the taking pictures: one from Mexico police Lt. MacDonald’s digital camera and the opposite from Rumford police Officer Gallant.
The footage from Gallant’s digital camera reveals how the officer pointed a handgun and a stun gun at Dearborn and repeatedly informed him to drop the gun.
“Shoot me lifeless. Shoot me,” Dearborn replied.
Gallant fired the stun gun, then seconds later started firing his gun, as did MacDonald.
The Oxford County district lawyer’s workplace declined to touch upon the fees in opposition to Dearborn and Tibbetts.
In the meantime, Tibbetts, who was shot in October, was charged with home violence legal threatening with a harmful weapon and violating his situations of launch from a previous case.
The lawyer common’s workplace referred to as within the Maine State Police to research Tibbetts’ alleged crime after the Mexico police had responded and Broughton had shot the 22-year-old, in keeping with court docket information.
Maine State Police Detective Benjamin Handzel mentioned in his affidavit that Mexico police have been responding to a “home disturbance.” The detective interviewed Tibbetts’ girlfriend and one other particular person current, whom Tibbetts mentioned was a former roommate.
Tibbetts’ girlfriend informed Handzel she wasn’t afraid of Tibbetts, and he or she felt like she wanted to name the police as a result of he was uncontrolled.
The previous roommate informed police that she noticed Tibbetts holding a knife to his girlfriend’s throat and threatening her. However the former roommate additionally informed police she had been consuming that evening and he or she “she didn’t bear in mind quite a bit.”
The dashboard digital camera footage supplied by the lawyer common’s workplace reveals three officers approaching Tibbetts’ house constructing shoulder to shoulder at midnight. Inside seconds, the officer on the far proper fires his weapon, and three photographs could be heard. Tibbetts—seen within the distance solely as a shadow—drops to his knees, then to the bottom.
One other view of the taking pictures—from doorbell digital camera footage obtained by Portland tv station CBS 13 {that a} resident mentioned captured a part of the altercation—confirmed three officers rapidly getting into the body, yelling at somebody off-camera to drop a machete. Inside seconds, three photographs ran out.
For Tibbetts, the irony of the state of affairs stands out when he thinks again on that evening: He got down to kill himself, and the police responded with lethal drive.
He is now residing with a relative as he recovers from his accidents. Sudden actions and the sight of something resembling weapons now startle him. Seeing children taking part in with Nerf weapons, for instance, could be tough.
“That bang or that twinge, typically I’ve to look again and be like, ‘OK, it is only a toy,’” he mentioned.
Tibbetts has a scar on his face, he has misplaced 85 % of his massive gut and a part of a bullet continues to be lodged in his backbone, he mentioned. He can not stroll correctly because of the gunshot wound to his proper leg and the bullet fragment in his backbone.
“I am unable to even use the lavatory proper. I’m just about depending on individuals to stand up and down,” Tibbetts mentioned. “This has modified my life.”