Maine AG Says a Bangor Cop Was Justified in Shooting at a Woman

The Maine Attorney General's Office has released the final ruling on a police-involved shooting in Bangor involving a woman with knives.

The Bangor Police-Involved Shooting Happened on Finson Road

Linda Coburn wasn't hurt in the shooting that happened before dawn on Sunday, June 25, 2023 at a trailer park on Finson Road.

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Police Say Coburn Refused to Drop Her Knives Before Using Them to Threaten Others

Two Bangor Police Officers responded to the residence after receiving a 911 call from a man who said that Coburn had twice assaulted him at the home they shared. Officers Bobbylee Gillespie and Michaela Sprague responded to the address and, while they were enroute, learned from dispatch that the situation had escalated and that Coburn was sharpening a large knife. Ms. Coburn's 17-year-old daughter had stepped outside of the residence and Coburn had followed her, with the knife in her hand.

When the officers arrived, they found Coburn outside the residence with a knife in each hand. The office of the Maine Attorney General reports Officer Gillespie repeatedly told Coburn to drop the knives. On Gillespie's body cam, Coburn's daughter and the 911 caller can also be heard yelling at her to drop the knife. Ms. Coburn refused to comply and began asking the officers to shoot her. She said she was not going to jail and began slashing at her wrist and arm.

At this point, officials say Coburn began approaching the 911 caller with a raised knife, again stating that she was not going back to jail. Officer Gillespie fired two shots, neither of which struck Coburn. The entire encounter took approximately a minute, from the time that Officer Gillespie got out of her cruiser and she fired at Ms. Coburn. The Attorney General says, during that time, she was ordered to drop the knife more than 20 times. Those knives would later be found in the road by investigators.

Once Coburn was taken into custody, she was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Maine's Attorney General's Office Says Police Fired in Defense of Others

The decision of the Maine Attorney General's Office states the Officer Gillespie could have 'reasonably believed' that Coburn was about to cause serious injury or death to the 911 caller or herself or Officer Sprague. The final ruling is that Officer Gillespie fired her weapon in defense of herself and the others at the scene.

Investigations by the Maine Attorney General's Office is standard procedure in all police-involved shootings.