A Maine State Police officer investigates a shooting in the Auburn Plaza parking lot on Monday morning. Evidence tags mark shell casings next to a vehicle, with firearm stickers on the back window, that was involved in the incident. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

AUBURN — Police said that more charges are expected following a shooting at 730 Center St. that sent a 19-year old man to the hospital and resulted in the arrest of an 18-year old Auburn man.

William Beasley Androscoggin County jail photo

Auburn police released a statement at about 6 a.m. Monday that they were investigating a shooting in the Auburn Plaza. The call came around midnight.

A spokeswoman at Central Maine Medical Center confirmed that the hospital received a gunshot victim related to the plaza shooting. No further details were available.

According to a statement by Auburn police, around 12:20 a.m., police received a call from a man and woman stating that they had been robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot of 730 Center St., and that they had “fired their own weapon at the perpetrators.”

Police said that upon arriving, they found a 19-year old man lying on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest, while William Beasley, 18, of Auburn was attempting to provide first aid.

The man, who police declined to identify Monday evening, was taken to Central Maine Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition.

According to police, the man and woman who reported the robbery said they were talking together in the woman’s vehicle after work when Beasley and the 19-year old approached their vehicle, showed them a revolver, and “demanded their money and cell phones.”

A handgun, marked with an evidence tag, lies in the Auburn Plaza parking lot on Monday morning. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

The male victim told Beasley and his acquaintance that he needed to get it from his vehicle, which was parked nearby.

Police said that the man pulled a 9 mm handgun from his vehicle and fired multiple shots at Beasley and the 19-year old, who began to run away. One of the shots struck the 19-year old, according to police.

Beasley was arrested at the scene and charged with Class B robbery, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, with bail set at $25,000 cash.

Police said that the weapon used in the attempted robbery was a BB gun, designed to look like a revolver.

The Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit is assisting Auburn police with the investigation, which is spread out over a wide area in the Auburn Plaza parking lot.

More charges are expected, according to Auburn police.

The businesses in the Auburn Plaza were open Monday, though police warned residents in a 6 a.m. statement on their Facebook page that “traffic and parking will be restricted for the next several hours.”

Officers with the Auburn Police Department and the Maine State Police investigate a shooting in the Auburn Plaza parking lot on Monday morning. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

A coat lies on the ground in the Auburn Plaza parking lot on Monday morning. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

A Maine State Police officer investigates a shooting in the Auburn Plaza parking lot on Monday morning around a vehicle involved in the incident. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

A Maine State Police officer investigates a shooting in the Auburn Plaza parking lot on Monday morning. Evidence tags mark shell casings to the right of a vehicle involved in the incident. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal