Portland police say there was no crime involved in a double shooting Sunday that wounded two people inside a car traveling on Cumberland Avenue.
Assistant Police Chief Vern Malloch on Friday said the double shooting was an accident caused by the reckless handling of a weapon inside a Jeep Renegade that contained three people. The car was traveling near Mayo Street when a single bullet fired from a gun being handled by a passenger passed through the man’s hand and hit a woman in the leg, he said.
“He panicked and fled the scene, which made things more complicated and less clear,” Malloch said.
Officers were called to the area of Cumberland Avenue and Mayo Street around 4:18 p.m. Sunday by a resident who heard gunshots. Officers discovered an 18-year-old woman inside a red Jeep Renegade who had suffered a gunshot wound. The woman was treated at the scene before being taken to Maine Medical Center with a non-life threatening injury.
Police then began looking for a 30-year-old man who had fled before officers arrived. He was located a short time later on Marginal Way near the city’s sewage treatment plant. That is when officers discovered that he had also been shot.
He was treated at the scene before he also was transported to Maine Medical Center with a non-life threatening gunshot wound.
No charges have been filed and the people who were wounded are recovering from their injuries, Malloch said. The driver was not injured.
Police did not release the names of the people involved in the incident.
Police urge anyone with information about the incident to call them at (207) 874-8575.
Gillian Graham can be contacted at 791-6315 or at:
ggraham@pressherald.com
Twitter: grahamgillian
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