Augusta Police Found Guilty in January Shooting Death

Police tape and vehicles blocked a portion of Northern Avenue in Augusta in January, hours after officers shot and killed an armed man who entered an apartment and opened fire at police. Keith Edwards/Kennebec Journal file

AUGUSTA — Officers from the Augusta and Capitol police departments were justified in shooting an armed man who opened fire on them earlier this year, the Maine attorney general’s office has ruled.

In a report published Friday, investigators concluded that when the officers involved shot him, Lebanese They believed Mohamed, 23, of Lewiston, “posed an imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death to himself, other officers and at least one civilian at the scene.”

Augusta police responded to a third-floor apartment of a multi-unit home at 132 Northern Ave. around 11 p.m. on Jan. 21 for a report that an armed black male had forced his way into the caller’s apartment and was preventing the caller’s girlfriend from leaving. The caller had left the apartment before calling 911.

According to the report, Augusta officers Matthew Gurney and Jonathan Young arrived first, followed by Sgt. Derek Daley and Officer Andrew Frost. Gurney and Young climbed the outside stairs to the third floor, with Daley following shortly after. They walked to the apartment’s exterior door, which was accessed from the deck.

Gurney, Young and Daley loudly identified themselves as Augusta police and ordered the occupants to come outside and show their hands, the report said. The report states that they did not initially knock on the door because of the report that the man inside was armed. When their initial commands received no response, they knocked and announced themselves again.

As officers attempted to rally residents into action, Officer Andrew Frost of the Augusta Police Department remained on the ground in front of the building, joined by Officer Ryan Frost of the Capitol Police, who had arrived after the Augusta officers.

According to the report, after a few minutes of knocking, a woman came out and joined the three officers on the deck. She initially did not say whether anyone else was in the apartment, but after direct questioning, she confirmed that a black man she did not recognize was inside. That man was later identified as Mohamed.

As officers questioned the woman, Andrew Frost saw Mohamed smash a window in an attempt to leave the apartment and repeatedly yelled commands at Mohamed, identifying himself as police and ordering the man to show his hands. Ryan Frost ran forward to provide support and was joined by Gurney, who had run down from the third floor and said he had seen Mohamed have a gun.

When Mohamed returned to the window, the report states, Andrew Frost ordered him to show his hands. At that point, Mohamed fired two shots at the officers on the ground, one of which struck Ryan Frost, and Ryan Frost returned fire.

Daley and Young, who were still on the third-floor deck with the woman, heard the shots from inside the apartment and positioned themselves to prevent Mohamed from escaping to the deck. The report states that they were in a vulnerable position with little cover and were responsible for the woman’s safety. Mohamed came to the apartment door, leaned out while remaining largely concealed, displayed a handgun and fired at the officers and the woman. Young and Daley returned fire.

Gurney, lying on the ground within sight of the apartment door and armed with a rifle, saw an arm sticking out of the door and shots being fired at people on the deck. He fired at the spot where he thought the gunman would be standing.

Mohamed stopped shooting and retreated into the apartment, then fired at the officers on the ground. Andrew Frost and Ryan Frost had taken cover behind a parked car, and Gurney used the corner of a nearby building for cover. Gurney returned fire, and the shooting from the apartment stopped.

With a search warrant, police, including the Maine State Police Tactical Team, entered the apartment and found Mohamed lying dead on the floor with a firearm, later identified as a Taurus 9mm handgun, next to him with one loaded bullet and a magazine containing one round. Additional bullet casings were found that were identified as coming from Mohamed’s weapon.

The Office of the Chief Coroner performed an autopsy on Mohamed and concluded that he died of three gunshot wounds.

The report concludes that Daley, Young, Gurney and Ryan Frost correctly believed they were acting in defense of themselves and others when they used deadly force.

The attorney general’s office, which is investigating the use of deadly force by Maine police, does not analyze whether personal action was necessary, whether the use of deadly force could have been prevented, or whether there is any civil liability.

Since 1990, research by the Public Prosecution Service has shown that police-involved shootings were justified in all cases.

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