Gardiner police and Kennebec County deputies examine a pistol secured Wednesday at the intersection of Cherry and Water streets in Gardiner. The operator of a motorcycle was transported to the hospital with gunshot wounds and a man who drove to the location was detained by police. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal
GARDINER — While the shooting in Gardiner Wednesday that sent a man to the hospital remains under investigation, more details are starting to emerge even as the chief of police provided no new updates.
Police have talked to at least one person in connection with the shooting and have recovered at least one shell casing.
On Wednesday, according to a news release issued by Gardiner police Chief James Toman, officers responded to the area of Water and Cherry streets to a report of a man bleeding from the face. Further investigation showed that the injury was a gunshot wound to the face and that the shooting may have occurred on Green Street.
The injured man, who police have not yet identified, was taken first to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta and then to Maine Medical Center in Portland for treatment.
Toman said no one had been detained and no threat to the public existed.
On Thursday, Toman said no update was expected by authorities. There was also no update on the condition of the unidentified man who was shot in the face.
The Gardiner police’s dispatch log for Wednesday shows that one of the initial calls to police reported the incident as a motor vehicle accident. As police arrived, they found a bystander administering first aid to the injured man, who was sitting on the curb.
Another caller reported the man appeared to have been shot in the face. Police at the scene could be seen securing a pistol.
As the investigation continued into the afternoon on Water Street, which is also state Route 126, school buses from the Gardiner Regional Middle School were routed around where police were working.
Maine School Administrative District 11 Superintendent Patricia Hopkins said Thursday that whenever an incident happens in the community that draws concern, the district’s operations and maintenance supervisor will speak with police.
“We did consult with the police department before we rerouted the buses,” Hopkins said.
The location of the shooting is not far from the middle school, which is located farther west on Route 126, and the Gardiner Area High School, which is located on West Hill Road which intersects with Route 126 not far from Cherry Street.
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