LEWISTON — A man shot multiple times by police in Kennedy Park on Friday told police from his hospital bed that he had hoped they would “send him to his maker,” according to an affidavit filed in Androscoggin County Superior Court.
Albert Crowley, 20, has been charged with three counts of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and one count of domestic violence assault.
According to the affidavit filed by Lewiston police Detective David Levesque and released Tuesday, at about 7 p.m. Friday evening, Crowley fought with his girlfriend in their Knox Street apartment over his drug use. He allegedly punched her in the head and mouth.
When she started bleeding, Crowley apologized and lay down with her and their infant daughter on an air mattress in the living room. When he left at about 8 p.m., he kissed her and said he loved her and the baby. She called 911 and told police he might be armed.
Crowley went to Kennedy Park and was quickly surrounded by three officers.
Ignoring orders to stop and raise his hands, one witness told police Crowley said, “I’m not afraid to die.”
When Crowley pulled a revolver from his clothing, hid behind a tree and appeared to aim the gun at an officer, police immediately began firing, according to the affidavit.
Crowley allegedly ran. Officers fired until he fell to the ground and fired again when he motioned toward the police with one arm, still holding the gun.
The incident was caught on tape by surveillance cameras.
Police retrieved a .22-caliber, eight-shot revolver in the park with seven hollow point bullets “with one in the chamber, ready to be fired,” according to the affidavit.
Crowley allegedly told police from his hospital bed at Central Maine Medical Center that he’d found the gun behind a Dumpster in Oklahoma, where he and his girlfriend used to live, and the couple had had past domestic violence issues.
“Crowley told us how he did not want to go back to jail,” Levesque wrote. “According to Crowley, he was holding the gun while backing up, knowing police will normally shoot people who hold a gun towards them. Crowley stated he did not want to shoot himself because he ‘would not go to heaven if he killed himself.'”
“When asked why he carries a firearm, Crowley responded by informing us his anxiety makes him feel like people are after him,” Levesque wrote.
Crowley allegedly carried the gun and a knife for protection.
Crowley remained at CMMC on Tuesday. The three officers involved are on administrative leave while the Maine Attorney General’s Office investigates the shooting.
kskelton@sunjournal.com
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- Albert Crowley of Lewiston is put into a United Ambulance after he was shot Friday night in Kennedy Park in downtown Lewiston.
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