LEWISTON, Maine — Lewiston Police say the U.S. Marshals Service was utilized in response to a shooting on Knox Street Monday afternoon as part of a push to strengthen public safety.
"We have a lot of federal partners that we're working with right now, and when an incident like this happens, it's certainly helpful when we bring all of our law enforcement partners together," Lieutenant Derrick St. Laurent said.
According to a press release posted on the Lewiston Police Department's Facebook page, a patrol officer heard the sound of gunshots a little before 4 p.m. on Monday. The officer subsequently found a man who had been shot and was later sent to Central Maine Medical Center.
Several suspects fled the scene, three of which were chased towards Blake Street by law enforcement and are now in custody, according to St. Laurent.
"Shootings like what happened [Monday,] time is of the essence. We want to get there on scene as fast as we can to preserve the evidence," St. Laurent added.
St. Laurent says each of the suspect's cell phones, three guns, two cars, and drugs found at the scene are now in the hands of law enforcement.
During the chase, resident Angela Russell says she witnessed a U.S. Marshals Service officer run across her backyard. At the time, however, she believed he was a part of the suspects running away from the scene of the shooting.
"He's pointing a gun at me and everybody in the garden to get down, otherwise he was going to shoot us," Russell said. "I thought he was just chasing [the suspects] because he was in street clothes... he wasn't even remotely wearing a badge, there was no badge showing."
St. Laurent says it isn't uncommon for U.S. Marshals Service officers to be in plain clothes, and often times wears a vest to identify themselves.
NEWS CENTER Maine reached out to a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service and is waiting to hear back.
Officials are asking anyone with further information about the shooting to contact Det. Ashley Wade of the Lewiston Police Department.