A man wounded by police last weekend was charged Tuesday with two misdemeanors, but it’s unclear yet why he was shot.
Edward C. Hyman, 42, of New York City was wounded by officer Nevin Rand, 26, who has worked for the department since late 2018, as Rand investigated a reported burglary behind the Preble Street Resource Center.
Hyman is in stable condition at Maine Medical Center. He was charged Tuesday with criminal threatening and refusing to submit to arrest, and will remain free on personal recognizance.
Police were dispatched to 252 Oxford St. before dawn Oct. 9 for a report of a burglary. According to police, witnesses at the scene identified Hyman as the burglary suspect. Rand was attempting to speak with Hyman immediately before the shooting occurred, police have said.
They have not released any details about why Rand used deadly force or what caused him to believe that Hyman posed a grave threat.
A witness to the shooting, who spent the previous night sleeping next to Hyman at a sidewalk encampment a few feet from where Hyman was shot, said he awoke to a commotion, with people saying that someone had broken into the resource center. The witness, whose face was covered with a blanket, said he heard police order Hyman to take his hands out of his pockets three or four times before three shots rang out.
Police have refused to answer questions about whether Hyman was armed or how he behaved toward Rand when the officer approached him.
It is also unknown whether Rand’s body-worn camera was turned on and functioning during the interaction. Police also have refused to say whether they believe a burglary was actually committed.
Rand is on paid administrative leave, a standard practice, while Portland police and the Maine Attorney General’s Office investigate the shooting.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
