Nov. 10--RUMFORD -- A Rumford police officer was shot dead early Thursday morning outside his Cedar Lane home during a standoff with Maine State Police and the Maine Wardens Service.
"The Maine Attorney General's Office is investigating the deadly shooting of Eric Richard, 46, an administrative officer with the Rumford Police Department," Maine's Attorney General William J. Schneider said in a prepared statement issued late Thursday.
The shooting occurred after 10 a.m. today in the woods of Rumford, according to a release issued by Schneider's office.
"The Maine Warden Service and State Police troopers Kyle Tilsley and Adam Fillebrown, with his tracking dog, were searching for Mr. Richard in the woods," according to the statement. "An armed confrontation occurred between Richard and Warden Jeremy Judd, 34, from the Gray District.
Maine State Police troopers were not involved in the shooting.
Richard died as a result of a gunshot wound, according to the release. The manner of death has not yet been determined by the Medical Examiner's Office.
Several law enforcement agencies are assisting with the investigation, including state police, the Maine Warden Service, Rumford Police Department and deputies from the Oxford County Sheriff's Office.
According to the release, "State Police have sent a team of detectives and evidence technicians to assist in the investigation and Colonel Robert Williams, Chief of the State Police, went to the scene and has met with Rumford Police."
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