Maine State Police Sgt. Chris Harriman speaks at a press conference in Brunswick Tuesday morning in front of Tedford Housing’s family shelter on Federal Street where two men were shot Monday night. Kathleen O’Brien / The Times Record
BRUNSWICK — Maine State Police say a fatal shooting at a family shelter on Federal Street late Monday night was the result of a fight between two men over a woman.
Investigators say Ali Fisher, 40, of Lisbon, broke into an apartment at the Tedford Housing family shelter at 34 Federal St. around 10:20 p.m. Fisher was armed with a handgun, according to police.
A second man inside the apartment grappled with the intruder to gain control of the gun, police said. During the struggle, both men were shot, the Maine Department of Public Safety said in a news release Tuesday morning.
Fisher allegedly fled from the apartment and died outside. The other man was treated at an area hospital and released. Maine State Police declined to name the second man involved in the shooting, as they don’t expect to charge him with a crime.
“It was a fight between a boyfriend and ex-boyfriend,” Maine State Police Sgt. Chris Harriman told The Times Record.
Harriman said multiple shots were fired but couldn’t confirm exactly how many. Neither man was supposed to be at the shelter, he said.
According to Harriman, there was a woman in the apartment during the struggle. He said she was not injured and is cooperating with the police.
Craig Phillips, executive director of Tedford Housing, said a woman and her child were staying in the apartment where the shooting happened. They will be staying with another family in one of the other apartments temporarily, he said. Harriman said no children were in the apartment at the time when the shots were fired.
Guests are not allowed in the apartments, Phillips said. The two men involved in the shooting did not have permission to be there. However, the apartment occupants control who comes and goes in each unit.
While there are no staff at the shelter nights and weekends, clients can contact staff at Tedford’s Cumberland Street shelter 24 hours a day, Phillips said. The families living at the Federal Street shelter also call the Cumberland Street shelter staff every night when they’re in for the evening.
Phillips said he believes Tedford Housing will look at its procedures and rules to see if security measures can be increased at the shelter.
Around 22 people were living in the shelter’s six apartments Monday, Phillips said.
A Sweetser crisis team was at the Federal Street shelter Tuesday offering counseling.
According to Brunswick Police Cmdr. Mark Waltz, police went to the family shelter on Federal Street 22 times so far this year.
Phillips reached out to neighbors who live near the shelter, and Brunswick School Department and Maine School Administrative District 75 where some of the children staying at the shelter attend school.
Richard Moll lives on Federal Street and said he heard gunshots and saw a man run away from the nearby family shelter where two men were shot Monday night. Darcie Moore / The Times Record
Neighbor Richard Moll described what he heard: “Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang.”
Moll lives two homes down from the shelter and was out walking his dog when he heard gunshots and saw a man running away from the shelter before falling. Police arrived before he could call 911.
“I think we were scared because we saw everyone running around” after first responders arrived, said Mattie Daughtry, a state Legislator who lives nearby.
Brunswick Town Councilor Jane Millett lives on Franklin Street just off of Federal Street, which is near the shelter.
“The Tedford shelter has been there a long time and there haven’t been any of these kinds of problems at all,” Millett said. “We know they’re doing a good job and they can’t control every single situation, as we can’t either.”
Daughtry had previously expressed similar sentiments.
“They’ve been great neighbors,” she said. “This is shocking and rare and a complete and utter tragedy and I think that’s probably what was scaring us the most.”
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
