The Somerset County Sheriff’s corporal who was shot to death early Wednesday was involved in the arrest just a few days earlier of the girlfriend of the man now sought in the officer’s killing.
Cpl. Eugene Cole, 62, was shot and killed early Wednesday on Route 2 in Norridgewock, becoming the first Maine police officer killed in a shooting in nearly 30 years.
Authorities have identified John Williams, 29, of Madison as the suspect in Cole’s slaying. Police said he remained at large Thursday night and was considered to be “armed and extremely dangerous.”
A friend of Williams said Thursday that he saw him in the hours before the killing and that he was upset about his girlfriend being in jail and an upcoming court hearing on drug and weapons charges in Massachusetts.
A massive police manhunt has been underway for Williams since Wednesday morning, involving the FBI and some 200 law enforcement officials who have scoured numerous locations across central Maine. On Thursday, the FBI announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to Williams’ arrest, while Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster urged Williams to turn himself in.
Kristina A. Pomerleau, 32, of Norridgewock – who authorities on Thursday confirmed was in a relationship with Williams – was arrested in Norridgewock on Saturday on charges of unlawful furnishing of scheduled drugs, possession of scheduled drugs, operating after suspension and possession of a suspended license. She was booked at 4:22 p.m. at the Somerset County Jail in East Madison and remained there as of Thursday, according to jail records.
Pomerleau’s arrest came during a traffic stop at 5:13 p.m. Saturday on Skowhegan Road in Norridgewock, in which Cole is listed as a responding officer in a sheriff’s office police log. Other responding officers were Deputy Isaac Wacome and Detective Lt. Carl Gottardi. A police affidavit detailing what happened during Pomerleau’s arrest was unavailable because a judge impounded it Thursdaymorning, at the request of the Somerset County District Attorney’s Office. Other documents in the case file that had not been impounded in court alleged Pomerleau had possessed cocaine and that the arresting officer was Wacome.
Williams had been arrested in Massachusetts on drugs and firearms charges during a traffic stop last month, and he was scheduled to appear Wednesday in a Massachusetts court for a probable cause hearing, the Essex District Attorney’s Office said. Pomerleau was a passenger in the vehicle during the traffic stop and was issued a summons for possession of Percocet.
Williams’ friend, Chris Shulenski, said Thursday that he saw Williams hours before the killing and that Williams was upset about Pomerleau being in jail and his court hearing on the Massachusetts charges.
During a 5 p.m. news conference Thursday, Lancaster refused to say whether Pomerleau was interviewed as part of the investigation into the police shooting, but he confirmed Pomerleau is in “a relationship” with Williams.
Williams is described as being 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighing about 120 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Police said anyone who sees Williams should call 911 immediately.
“At this time of this briefing, John Williams is still at large and still considered armed and dangerous,” Lancaster said during the news conference. “If John Williams is hearing this, I want you to turn yourself in. Please surrender peacefully.”
Authorities told residents to keep their doors and cars locked, and said officers have been assigned to area schools.
Maine State Police Lt. Col. John Cote asked the public for help and stressed the safe return of Williams.
“He is the only one who can answer the questions we have,” Cote said.
Lancaster called Cole, a 13-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, an “outstanding employee, one of the finest.” Cole’s son David Cole also is a deputy for the sheriff’s office.
SEARCH ENTERS 2ND DAY
Helicopters, armored vehicles and police cruisers were spotted Thursday around Somerset County, as federal, state and local law enforcement poured into the region to look for Williams.
Authorities said Cole was shot between 1 and 2 a.m. Wednesday and his body was found at 7:15 a.m. at 16 Mercer St., which is also Route 2, in Norridgewock. It was unclear Thursday the circumstances surrounding the encounter between Cole and Williams, and authorities declined to say any more, citing the ongoing investigation.
Lancaster said Wednesday that Williams stole Cole’s fully marked cruiser, then drove to the Cumberland Farms store, where he reportedly committed a theft. He then fled in Cole’s cruiser.
Cole’s cruiser was found abandoned shortly after 5 a.m. off Martin Stream Road in Norridgewock, police said, and they believe Williams had fled on foot.
A nationwide alert has been issued for Williams, and police did not know of any vehicle Williams might be using.
Around 10 a.m. Thursday, more than 20 police cruisers raced toward Fairfield in the area of Martin Stream Road, the apparent epicenter of Thursday’s search efforts. A major police presence could be seen on Bear Mountain Road, a dirt road off Martin Stream Road, which travels through a heavily wooded, swampy area. Some two dozen police vehicles were parked along Bear Mountain Road amid steady rain.
More police units arrived around noon, as the dirt road was blocked off with yellow crime scene tape. Assembled news media representatives were told to move away from the road entrance. Around12:20 p.m., an armored state police vehicle entered Bear Mountain Road; but shortly after 1 p.m., troopers dressed in camouflage clothing could be seen climbing into vehicles and leaving the scene.
During a morning news conference in Norridgewock, Lancaster said officials continued to work overnight and into the morning, increasing patrols in the area and following up on leads.
“This was a senseless act against a committed public servant. Our hearts are very heavy for all law enforcement in this state,” Lancaster said. “… I’m asking John Williams, personally, if you are listening to my words today, please turn yourself in.”
Some 175 to 200 officers from local, state and federal agencies are involved in the search effort to find Williams, the sheriff said.
“Even though this is a very active and comprehensive investigation, I want everyone to remember that Corporal Cole was an outstanding servant of this community and this county,” he said amid a steady rain outside the Norridgewock Grange hall, which is next to the fire station and has served as a command post.
Cote, the state police lieutenant colonel, said during Thursday morning’s news conference that officials had executed a search warrant at Williams’ last known address in Madison, 16 Jones St., the previous night to gather more information and evidence. Cote asked that if anyone has had contact with Williams, including via text message or social media, to contact authorities.
He said police from New Hampshire and Massachusetts, along with officers from all over Maine, are in the area offering boots-on-the-ground assistance and equipment needed in the massive manhunt.
Hank Shaw, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division, said his agency, the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office and the Maine State Police “are asking for the public’s assistance and offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest of John Daniel Williams.”
Anyone with information on Williams’ whereabouts is asked to call state police at 624-7076 or contact them electronically at tips.fbi.gov.
“Mr. Williams is a danger to the public,” Shaw said.
Police believe Williams probably is still in the area, and they have no information suggesting he’s “gone mobile,” so the public should be cautious and keep vehicles locked, Cote said.
The FBI also issued a news release Thursday evening detailing the case against Williams and describing his many tattoos. Williams has at least eight of them. One of them has the words “SEVEN ELEVEN” – an apparent reference to his birthday, July 7 – on his chest below his collarbones; and the abbreviation “est” between his pectorals. The name “WILLIAMS” appears on his lower abdomen, above his navel. He has a half-sleeve tattoo on his left arm, the word “Semper” on his upper right arm, the word “Fidelis” on his upper left arm, and a small “safety selector” symbol on the back of his left hand.
Williams also has the words “Molon Labe” – a Greek expression of defiance meaning “come and take” that has been adopted by some guns rights advocates – on his right forearm.
“According to records checks, Williams does not have any military experience,” the FBI statement said.
MANHUNT HITS HOME
In a video interview Thursday with News Center Maine, Shulenski, the suspect’s friend, said he dropped off Williams early Wednesday morning in Norridgewock, before the killing took place.
Shulenski told the TV station he feared for the worst for his friend, who had vowed not to go to prison for drug charges in Massachusetts. Williams told Shulenski he was facing 10 years behind bars and didn’t know if he “could do the time,” said Shulenski, adding that Williams thought he was “probably going to be a fugitive.”
Shulenski said Williams “seemed a little bummed out,” with causes including the fact that his girlfriend was in jail – an apparent reference to Pomerleau – “but nothing crazy.”
“At this point, I’m just worried about him,” Shulenski said. “I don’t feel like I’ll see him alive again; I really don’t. I want to say, ‘John, turn yourself in’; but I know him. I know him pretty well, and I don’t see it going like that.”
Area residents cruised Martin Stream Road on Thursday showing interest in what was taking place so close to their homes.
Alexander Russell, who lives about 3 miles away in Oakland, said, “It’s nuts. This never happens around here.”
He said it’s upsetting to see a law enforcement officer shot and killed in the line of duty because his uncle is Randall Liberty, the former sheriff of Kennebec County and the current warden at the Maine State Prison.
“So it kind of hits home,” he said.
Russell said the Martin Stream Road area is rough country, with thick brush and wetlands.
“It’s rocky, it’s full of brush, a lot of pine trees, wet, cold,” Russell, 20, said from the driver’s seat of his black Chevrolet Silverado. “It’s wicked marshy. I’m kind of on edge, surprised.”
He said he and his friend drove by the Bear Mountain Road area “to check it out – everyone’s talking about it. A bunch of cop cars, you guys. It’s suspenseful – a waiting game.”
Russell said the most difficult part for someone on the run on a day like Thursday would be the rain and the chill, especially over night. Russell, who attended Lawrence High School in Fairfield, said he doesn’t know Williams, but had seen Cpl. Cole before, but never met him.
Russell said he and his neighbors are locking their doors at night, and he is keeping a gun handy, just in case.
“Last night I slept with a gun beside my bed,” he said. “It was sketchy. It was raining. You couldn’t hear nothing, so who knows what’s going to happen?”
Staff Writer Rachel Ohm and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
