PORTLAND, Maine (AP) The Maine Attorney General’s Office says a Portland police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man who was brandishing a pellet gun because it appeared to be a real rifle.
Sgt. Nicholas Goodman shot 22-year-old Chance David Baker in the parking lot of a strip mall in February 2017. In a report released Tuesday, investigators said Baker was holding an air rifle and seemed ready to pull the trigger.
The report says Baker was drinking malt liquor in the parking lot and his blood alcohol level was later found to be several times the legal limit.
Baker’s grandmother, Terry Baker, tells the Portland Press Herald that the family disagrees with the finding. She says they have hired a lawyer but have not decided whether to sue police.
