Little still known about why officer shot man in Augusta

AUGUSTA — Little more was known Monday about the events that led an Augusta policeman to shoot a man early Sunday at a house on South Belfast Avenue.

Augusta officers responded to the house at about 12:30 a.m. looking for Robert Farrington, 27, who was wanted by Fairfield police on charges of domestic violence assault and cruelty to animals.

Officer Sabastian Guptill Contributed photo by Augusta Police Department

Once inside the house, Farrington and Officer Sabastian Guptill, 23, met in an armed confrontation and Guptill shot Farrington, according to Chief Jared Mills.

Farrington was taken to the hospital, where he was being treated for injuries not considered life-threatening.

Mills said Monday that Farrington’s condition was “the same as it was before,” but did not release the hospital at which he is being treated.

Officials from MaineGeneral Health in Augusta and Maine Medical Center in Portland told the Kennebec Journal on Monday afternoon they could not share information regarding Farrington. A representative from Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston said he was not a patient there.

Guptill was placed on paid administrative leave while the Maine Attorney General’s Office investigates the shooting, which is standard for all incidents regarding the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers.

Marc Malon, a spokesperson for the state Attorney General’s Office, said investigations into the use of deadly force vary from case to case. He said the investigations are undertaken by the office’s investigations division, which “is staffed by trained detectives.”

Mills said Monday he had no further information to release about the incident. He said Augusta police were helping Fairfield “because Augusta is our jurisdiction and if there is a wanted person in our jurisdiction, it is up to us to arrest said person, and vice versa.”

A call and an email to Fairfield Police Chief Thomas Gould were not returned Monday.

Augusta Police Chief Jared Mills discusses the use of deadly force while answering questions Sunday after Officer Sabastian Guptill shot Robert Farrington, 27, at an Augusta house.

During a news conference Sunday, Mills said Farrington had a gun and that one other person was at the house at the time of the shooting. Guptill was not injured during the incident.

“This was actually a location we were called to assist another law enforcement agency,” Mills said. “It wasn’t anything we were actively investigating. It was an incident that had occurred in Fairfield, and we were just assisting on the apprehension of the individual.”

Augusta property records show the house at 911 S. Belfast Ave., which is also Route 105, is owned by Robert L. Farrington.

Guptill was hired by the Augusta Police Department in April 2018, and he graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in May 2019, finishing second in his class.

Mills said Guptill had been with the department as an intern while in college, and described him as an excellent, motivated officer who focuses on details.