MEXICO — The man who died Sunday night following a standoff with police in Mexico was Steven R. Piirainen, 52, of Paris.
Piirainen was found dead inside a stolen pickup outside the Circle K store on Main St. Earlier the man exchanged gunfire with a state trooper and a Mexico police officer, said Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland.
The incident began after a pickup tuck was stolen Saturday afternoon in Paris.
An autopsy on his body is scheduled today at the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta.
The two officers who fired at Piirainen were State Trooper Paul Casey and Mexico Reserve Officer Dean Benson. As is standard in the aftermath of a police involved shooting, the two officers have been placed on administrative leave with pay.
As is also standard with a police shooting, the Maine Attorney General’s Office is the agency that will investigate the shooting and their investigators, assisted by State Police, were at the scene in Mexico until just before dawn today.
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