Police: 4 people shot in Maine; armed ex-con in custody

LEE, Maine — A former convict sought in the overnight shootings of four people in three northern Maine communities was taken into custody on Friday, state police said.

Anthony Lord, 35, was arrested in Houlton, and a woman being held with him was safe, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Dozens of law enforcement officers had been searching for Lord, who is believed to have stolen a logging truck before the shootings in the towns of Lee, Benedicta and Silver Ridge.

Police didn’t identify the victims or provide information about their conditions.

More details are expected to be released at an afternoon news conference.

The manhunt focused on the town of Lee, where police set up roadblocks to keep people out. A command post was set up at Lee Academy, a secondary school 60 miles northeast of Bangor.

Lord has a criminal record that includes convictions for domestic assault, criminal threatening and assault, police said. He was placed on the state’s sex-offender registry after being convicted of unlawful sexual contact with someone under the age of 14.

State police also are investigating the death of his 6-month-old son, who was discovered unresponsive by his mother in Millinocket in May, McCausland said.

Residents said the region is normally quiet and peaceful.

“It’s mind-blowing. To see a SWAT team in Lee or Lincoln is ridiculous,” said Rick Jipson, a mechanic who lives nearby in the town of Lowell.

Residents didn’t appear to be panicked by the police presence.

“We’re pretty well armed around here,” said James Knealand, who works at Lincoln Pulp & Paper and lives near a police checkpoint in Lee.