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A suspect is jailed after four people were found dead at a house and bullets were fired at a major highway near Portland, Maine, Tuesday morning, according to authorities.
Maine State Police said four bodies were found in Bowdoin, about 25 miles north of Portland, and those deaths are connected to a shooting on Interstate 295 in the Yarmouth area, between Portland and Bowdoin. The interstate shooting injured three, one critically, police said.
“State police responded to an address in Bowdoin where they found four people deceased within the home,” Maine State Police Lt. Randall Keaten told reporters. “From that, shortly after 10:30 we had reports of several vehicles being hit by gunfire … A person of interest has been detained and the incidents are connected.”
Was anyone arrested?
Maine State Police late Tuesday said Joseph Eaton, 34, was arrested and will be charged with murder. Police said Eaton lived in Bowdoin.
“Investigators will be working throughout the night processing multiple scenes and continuing to interview people involved with this incident,” police said in a statement. “Eaton was transported to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset and will make his initial appearance in court later this week.
Television station WGME broadcast images of a silver or grey Buick vehicle with bullet holes in the windshield, surrounded by multiple police vehicles.
In a statement, Yarmouth town officials said the I-295 shooting involved multiple vehicles. Keaten said three people were shot in that incident. He asked that drivers who had been in the area at the time of the shooting check their vehicle for gunshot damage and to call authorities with any information.
What caused the incidents?
Authorities have not yet discussed what they think led to the incidents in either Bowdoin or Yarmouth. They also did not specify what kind of firearm was recovered.
“Through investigation, law enforcement has determined there is no threat to the public at this time,” Maine State Police told USA TODAY in a statement.
Were the four people murdered?
Keaten said the four bodies were taken to the medical examiner’s office so investigators there can determine the cause and manner of death. He declined to discuss specifics about how the bodies were found or their condition upon authorities’ arrival at the scene, but police referred to the deaths as murders.
He said their identities would be released once their next-of-kin were notified.
Police said the three people injured in the interstate shooting were taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland for treatment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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