A neighbor of a Lovell man shot by police early Wednesday described hearing arguing, gunshots and a car crashing into a utility pole well before a final gunshot rang out.
Dennis Buffington, 31, of Nuthatch Road was shot by Oxford County Sheriff’s Cpl. George Cayer. He was flown from Bridgton Memorial Hospital to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston for treatment of his injuries. A hospital official Friday said she had no information about Buffington’s condition.
Cayer has been placed on administrative leave with pay while the Maine Attorney General’s Office conducts an investigation, which is required when an officer uses deadly force.
Neighbor Fred Harrison said Friday he was awakened by the disturbance about 1 a.m. Wednesday. He heard three people arguing, two men and a woman, then a couple of gunshots from what he thought was a pistol or rifle.
The noise was agitating his dogs, so Harrison and his wife took the dogs into the basement, thinking they would be safer from stray bullets, he said. At the time, they thought perhaps a bear that had been seen in the area last week might have returned, or possibly a coyote. Many residents in the rural neighborhood are hunters and have guns, he said.
Then he said they heard a car spinning its wheels as though it was doing “doughnuts,” and then a crash.
“Then we didn’t hear much until a shotgun blast at about 3 a.m.,” Harrison said. “Obviously that was the police.”
Police did not provide a timeline of their encounter with Buffington, saying only that an initial call was received at 1 a.m. from a house where Buffington was causing a disturbance. Oxford County sheriff’s deputies responded and were joined by Maine State Police troopers.
Police released few details Friday about the shooting, including whether Buffington has been charged with a crime. Authorities said Buffington had been armed with a shotgun when the 911 call was made and had a .30-30 rifle at the time Cayer shot him. Cayer also was armed with a rifle, investigators said.
State police are investigating Buffington’s behavior that night and will present their findings to the Oxford County District Attorney’s Office.
After daybreak Wednesday, Harrison saw several officers at the site, some of them marking the location of pieces of evidence with letters and numbers, he said.
He later saw debris that appeared to be from the aftermath of a crash near one of the utility poles on Nuthatch Road.
Harrison said he doesn’t know Buffington well, but they always got along with each other.
“We help each other when we need to,” he said. Both drive plows and work to keep Nuthatch Road, a dirt road serving a small number of houses, clear of snow in the winter, he said.
“He’s a good guy. I can’t say anything bad about him,” he said.
Police said they have not had extensive prior contact with Buffington. Sheriff Wayne Gallant said Thursday that Buffington was previously charged with operating under the influence and failure to stop for an officer in 2010 and operating under the influence in 2011.
Cayer has been with the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office for eight years, and before that he was with the Rumford Police Department, Gallant said Thursday.
Gallant said his department will conduct an internal affairs probe to determine if any policies were violated or any additional training is needed. He will also appoint a panel to review the incident. Such panels typically include outside law enforcement officers and civilians. The internal review could allow Cayer to return to work before the attorney general’s investigation is complete.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
