FAIRFIELD — Hours after he was fired from a temporary mill job, a man was arrested at a convenience store on charges he shot a hole in the bathroom wall with a shotgun.

Jason Davis, 28, of Portland, is charged with criminal mischief, reckless conduct with a firearm and carrying a concealed weapon, according to police Chief John Emory.

Emory said that earlier that night, Davis was fired from a temporary job at the Sappi paper mill for leaving the job for more than an hour without permission. According to Emory, a supervisor dropped Davis off at the Circle K store so that he could find a ride home.

Davis was in the bathroom at 1:13 a.m. Tuesday when officers Matthew Wilcox and Paul St. Amand arrived at the store, responding to a report that a man carrying a gun was in the store bathroom, Emory said.

They evacuated the store, then heard a shot as they approached the bathroom, Emory said. “The officers slowly opened the door and heard a person rustling around in a bathroom stall,” Emory said.

Davis complied with orders to put his hands in the air, leave the bathroom stall and lie on the floor, after which he was handcuffed and searched, Emory said. Davis had a 20-gauge single shot shotgun tucked into his pants and six shotgun shells, according to Emory. There was a large hole was in the bathroom wall.

Emory said he doesn’t know where Davis got the gun, but that police are looking into a possible connection between Davis and a series of vehicles that were broken into at Sappi around the same time. “Where he got the gun or why he had the gun has not been explained, nor do we know why he fired a shot,” Emory said.

Davis was taken to Somerset County Jail.

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling — 861-9287

mhhetling@centralmaine.com

Copy the Story Link