SACO, Maine — The U.S. attorney has provided updates Thursday about the investigation related to a shooting incident in Saco in February that prompted a shelter-in-place order for the downtown area.
Three men from Massachusetts have been indicted on charges related to drug trafficking and for their suspected role in a drive-by shooting in downtown Saco back in February.
On Feb. 9, police issued a shelter-in-place order for downtown Saco and a lockdown at Thornton Academy while a search was underway for three suspects who fled law enforcement after a shooting in the area caused a school bus with students on it to crash.
The U.S. attorney's office provided updates into that federal investigation at 2 p.m. Thursday in Portland during a press conference.
According to court documents that were unsealed last week, three people have been named in that investigation. A request to unseal the documents was made on May 6, with the arrest of the third suspect. When the request was made, all three were in Massachusetts state custody.
Yancarlos Abrante, Joshua Estrada, and Jason Johnson-Rivera are accused of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and for their role in the February shooting, which investigators allege is related to a drug operation in the Saco-Biddeford area.
Abrante, 19, was arraigned Thursday in Portland, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. Abrante was arrested May 6.
Estrada, 20, and Johnson-Rivera, 18, were taken into custody in Massachusetts on unrelated charges shortly after the Feb. 9 incident in Saco, though investigators said Thursday they were unsure about the specific date of their arrests.
Investigators said Estrada and Johnson-Rivera would be brought to Maine next week for their initial court appearances and arraignments.
The unsealed documents include an affidavit from an investigating officer alleging the suspects shot at least five rounds from a handgun into a vehicle with intent to cause harm to two individuals identified as "adversaries of the defendants in the drug trade in Saco-Biddeford."
Details of the investigation in the released court documents appear to show evidence of drug trafficking operations out of a hotel in Greater Portland as well as communications among the suspects who were fighting with others not named in the investigation to "control the flow of drugs to Saco-Biddeford" in the days leading up to and after the shooting.
The series of events pertaining to the multi-vehicle crash involving a school bus were also revealed in the court documents.
Watch the full press update here:
Video footage obtained by investigators appeared to show a red Dodge Charger traveling north on Elm Street in Saco, then stopping in the left-turn lane at the intersection of Elm and Temple Streets. A Honda HR-V appears to pull up along the passenger side of the Dodge Charger before "multiple gunshots are heard being fired." A witness reportedly told investigators he saw a gun being fired out of the driver's side rear window of the Honda HR-V.
The Honda HR-V then reportedly took off, "speeding through the intersection" at North and Elm Streets before crashing into another vehicle and the school bus that was parked at the intersection. Obtained video footage also appeared to show that the Dodge Charger then pulled up to that intersection where the crash occurred and a person in the Dodge Charger brandishing a weapon, then an individual in the Honda HR-V got out of the vehicle and fled into a nearby residential yard.
A student on the bus who was involved in the crash apparently took photos of the events as they were unfolding, and investigators were able to identify the suspects as the same three individuals named in the charging documents based on additional footage that corroborated what was seen in the images.
The Honda HR-V was impounded at the crash, and police said a firearm was recovered from that vehicle, according to Saco police. The Dodge Charger was located by law enforcement officials in Standish later that day.
If convicted of the drug charges, they each face up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $1 million. They each face up to 25 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 if convicted of the drive-by shooting charge.
"While an indictment is merely an accusation and the three men charged are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law, we hope these charges bring a sense of peace to the community of Saco and the surrounding area," U.S. Attorney Darcie McElwee said at the press conference. "We also hope it demonstrates the collective strength of Maine’s law enforcement community."