NORRIDGEWOCK (NEWS CENTER Maine) — A multi-agency manhunt continued into late Wednesday night searching for a man suspected of shooting and killing a Somerset County sheriff's deputy.
Police said the suspect, 29-year-old John Williams, is considered armed and dangerous. He's described as 5 foot 6 inches tall and 120 pounds with blue eyes, brown hair and a full beard. It was earlier reported by police that Williams was wearing a ponytail on the top of his head with the sides shaved but that was incorrect.
If the anyone sees Williams they are told not to approach him and immediately call 911.
Somerset County Sheriff's Office said Corporal Eugene Cole was the deputy who was shot and killed.
Police say Williams stole Corporal Cole's fully marked cruiser and drove to and robbed the Cumberland Farms on Waterville Road in Norridgewock around 1:45 a.m.
The cruiser was found around 5 a.m. on Martin Stream Road in Norridgewock. Police say Williams ran off on foot.
Deputy Cpl. Eugene Cole was killed between 1-2 a.m. Wednesday, the sheriff's office said.
Cpl. Cole is described by fellow law enforcement officers as hard-working and honest. His son was also a patrolman in the area and Cole's mother and brother worked for him in Madison.
FBI agents are on the scene and assisting in the national manhunt and police say they have issued a national alert. Police are searching on the ground and by air.
Police ordered Mill Stream Elementary School in Norridgewock to close Wednesday, and a section of Route 2 was closed as well. Schools in Oakland, Norridgewock and Fairfield were all on lockdown Wednesday as the manhunt continued.
Early this year, on March 22, Massachusetts State Troopers in Haverhill, Mass. arrested Williams on firearms violations. At the time he was arrested his bail was set at $10,000. Williams was supposed to appear in court in Massachusetts Wednesday, the same day he is suspected of killing a Maine Deputy.
Governor Paul LePage sent his condolences to the family of Corporal Eugene Cole, and law enforcement agencies across the state also echoed the sentiments.
The last Maine law enforcement officer to die in a shooting was Giles Landry. Detective Landry was shot to death on March 31, 1989 while investigating a child abuse complaint in Leeds. The gunman also killed a woman who had been talking to Detective Landry before turning the gun on himself. Landry joined the Maine State Police in 1976 and was promoted to Detective in 1988.
Fryeburg Police Officer Nate Desjardins was killed in the line of duty June 6, 2017 in a boat crash in Fryeburg. Desjardins was on his first day of water rescue training. He is Maine's 84th law enforcement line of duty death.
The first line of duty death in Maine was Ebenezer Parker, who was killed in 1808 while working for the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department.
