loading...

Bangor police say they have charged Perrin Oliver, 43, of Bangor with Class C Felony Criminal Threatening and Class B Felony Aggravated Reckless Conduct With a Firearm. A handgun was taken into evidence and the department’s Evidence Response Team is still investigating with the Criminal Investigations Division.

Many 4th of July Parade spectators never even knew Bangor police were working frantically to change the parade route Thursday morning after a man started firing a weapon on Park street downtown.

Sgt. Paul Edwards with the Bangor Police Department says around 8:30 a.m., they received word that a woman and baby had left an apartment at 47 Park Street and a despondent man was firing shots inside the building.

Police immediately secured the area and started to evacuate people in the Park Street building, and buildings nearby, and all of the parade spectators who were flooding into the area on foot.

Sgt. Edwards says the man fired multiple rounds.

"The suspect that's in custody, did in fact shoot what I've been told was close to 70 or more shots," stated Sgt. Edwards

Some of those shots according to police were out the window and they wanted to protect both parade spectators and participants. That's when they made the decision to let the 4th of July Parade start, but with an altered route.

Police were engaged with the shooter for more than two hours using negotiation and the robot to set off tear gas, successfully taking the man into custody as the parade was underway a few blocks away.

That's when they got the word from dispatch an accident had happened along the parade at the intersection of Water and Main Streets.

This investigation is also ongoing for the Bangor Police Department but Sgt. Edwards says witnesses report the man driving the tractor flipped over as he was making the turn onto Water Street and the Bangor antique fire truck driving behind couldn't stop in time and drove over the top of the small John Deer green tractor killing the male driver instantly.

Sgt. Edwards says they immediately called in grief counselors to support spectators who were mortified by what they had just witnessed.

"It was awful. Just terrible," said Sgt. Edwards.

Sgt. Edwards encourages anyone who witnessed the accident to reach out for support to your family doctor, clergy, or counselor, especially if children witnessed the tragedy.

No names have yet been released in either incident.

 

More From WBZN Old Town Maine