A series of Maine shootings occurred in several towns overnight. Four people were shot, and the police are searching for a convicted sex offender who may have stolen a vehicle and fled the scene. State police say they’re searching for a gunman who may be using a stolen logging truck to make his escape. The man is a suspect in the shootings in three different communities in the northern region of Maine.
Maine State Police official Steve McCausland that four people were shot in the towns of Silver Ridge, Lee, and Benedicta. No information about the condition of the victims has yet been released to the public. The search for the convicted sex offender and suspected shooter, Anthony Lord, 35, is reportedly focused in the Lee area. The Penobscot County town is on lockdown, with no vehicles being permitted to enter or exit the area.
The public has been urged to consider Anthony Lord armed and dangerous. The Maine shootings suspect is reportedly from the Crystal and Houlton area of the state. A law enforcement command post has been established at the Lee Academy school, which is located about 60 miles northeast of Bangor.
Lord is reportedly about 5-foot-9, weighs 263 pounds, and he has blonde hair and blue eyes. Maine State Police stated that Lord might be driving a stolen 2010 maroon Peterbilt pulp truck which has the name “McCarthy” printed on the side. The work truck also has an orange “pulp boom” emblem and a Maine commercial plate number 631745.
Law enforcement officers have yet to complete an investigation into the death of Lord’s 6-month-old baby boy. The infant, Larry Earl Lord of Bangor, died May 7.
The Maine shootings suspect reportedly has a substantial criminal history which dates back to 1999. In 2002, Lord was sentenced to 364 days in prison on criminal trespass and assault charges, but all the jail time was suspended. Later that same year, the suspect was charged with both unlawful sexual contact and gross sexual assault. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to five years in prison, and again, all but 18 months of the jail time was suspended. The conviction did result in Lord being legally designated as a sex offender.
Later Lord convictions included trafficking tobacco while in prison, operating under the influence, theft, and domestic violence. The domestic violence convictions occurred in February. Lord was sentenced to 10 months in jail, and once more, all but 45 days was suspended.
[Images via: W CSH6 and Maine State Police]