RANGELEY PLANTATION — A state trooper Wednesday shot and killed an armed Rumford man being served a warrant in the fatal shooting of his brother in December.
Shay L. McKenna Oxford County Sheriff’s Office
The Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit and State Police Tactical Team went to Rangeley Plantation to serve an arrest warrant for Shay McKenna, 28, of Rumford, according to a statement from Shannon Moss, Maine Department of Public Safety public information officer.
McKenna failed to show up Monday in Oxford County Superior Court in Paris for his arraignment on a manslaughter charge stemming from the December shooting death of his brother. He had been indicted by a grand jury.
McKenna was inside a van while a crisis negotiation team communicated with him, according to Moss. McKenna came out of the van wearing a bulletproof vest and holding a rifle when Trooper Jeffrey Parks shot him, according to Moss.
McKenna died at the scene.
Parks will be on administrative leave pending investigation, which is standard practice in officer-involved shootings, according to Moss.
McKenna was charged with manslaughter after his mother called 911 on Dec. 19, 2022, reporting that her son had been shot by her other son in the head, according to a police affidavit.
Rumford police as well as Oxford County Sheriff’s Office deputies and emergency medical technicians arrived at 1676 Route 2 in Rumford where they found the mother applying pressure to the bleeding head of 23-year-old Drew McKenna, who was lying on the living room floor.
He had been shot in the back of the head, according to the affidavit. He was later flown by helicopter from Rumford Hospital to Maine Medical Center in Portland.
McKenna was due in court Monday to answer a grand jury indictment for manslaughter, a felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
McKenna’s attorney, George Hess, told Justice Jennifer Archer that he hadn’t been able to reach his client, but had spoken with McKenna’s sister.
She had told Hess that, three weeks earlier, she had sold the house where McKenna had been living and that he had to move out.
“He hasn’t left the state; he’s here,” Hess told the judge. “He’s just out in the woods someplace where he can’t be reached.”
Hess said McKenna, despite being aware he was supposed to attend all court hearings as one of his bail conditions, has “never been in trouble before. He’s very unsophisticated in that way.”
Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea asked Monday that Justice Archer issue a bench warrant for McKenna’s arrest and impose new bail at $75,000 cash.
His mother, Laureen McKenna, had posted a $200,000 bond when McKenna was initially charged.
Hess asked Archer on Monday to delay McKenna’s arrest until Hess had a chance to speak with him. But Archer issued the warrant and set bail at the amount requested by prosecutors.
She said McKenna must have had advance notice of the sale of his sister’s home so he could make alternative arrangements. She said he had a cellphone and should have kept in contact with his attorney and the court.
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