AUBURN — Prosecutors are awaiting a final report from investigators of an Auburn Plaza shooting last month before bringing possible charges against a 19-year-old suspect who was shot.
The teen, who was shot in the chest during what police said was an attempted robbery, remains hospitalized, Deputy Police Chief Timothy Cougle said Thursday.
Maine State Police were called to the scene at 730 Center St. early on the morning of Feb. 24 due to the seriousness of the gunshot, Assistant District Attorney Nathan Walsh said Thursday.
State police are charged with investigating all shootings in Androscoggin County that could result in death.
“They were doing the evidence processing and we’re still waiting to see their finalized report,” Walsh said.
The teen “will be charged, likely,” Walsh said.
Prosecutors can present a felony case directly to a grand jury to get an indictment. All felony charges require grand jury indictment before proceeding to trial.
Because of the coronavirus, courts have suspended convening grand juries.
Prosecutors may also bring a felony charge after securing an arrest warrant from a judge that is backed by an affidavit.
Police arrested two others who have been charged in the incident.
William Beasley, 18, who lives locally, was charged with two counts of robbery, Class A crimes, each punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Beasley remains at Androscoggin County Jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bail.
Pierre Rouse, 16, was charged in a juvenile petition with liability accomplice robbery, a felony, according to court records.
He was held at Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland and scheduled for a detention hearing Thursday.
Rouse reportedly assumed the role of getaway driver.
According to local police, they received a call after midnight from a man and woman who said they had been robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot of Auburn Plaza and they had “fired their own weapon at the perpetrators.”
Police said they found a 19-year-old man lying on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest, while Beasley was attempting to provide first aid.
Police said the man and woman who reported the robbery said they were talking together in the woman’s vehicle after work when Beasley and a 19-year-old approached their vehicle, showed them a revolver and “demanded their money and cellphones.”
The male robbery victim told Beasley and the 19-year-old that he needed to get it from his vehicle, which was parked nearby.
According to a police affidavit, the male robbery victim pulled a 9 mm handgun from his vehicle and fired multiple shots at Beasley and the 19-year-old, who began running away.
The male robbery victim told police that he was trying to scare Beasley and the 19-year-old by firing shots in the air or behind them.
One of the shots struck the 19-year-old and he was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where he was reported to be in critical condition, police said.
The weapon used by Beasley and the 19-year-old was identified as a BB gun designed to look like a revolver.
The identities of the couple who reported the crime were not released, pending the investigation.
Cougle said Thursday that the man who fired the shots is not expected to be charged.
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