Police Release New Details About Jefferson Shooting

A Cushing man who shot his ex-girlfriend in the arm and led police on chase Monday died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, officials said.

State police said they responded to a domestic violence shooting on Somerville Road in Jefferson Monday night. When officers arrived, Shane Prior, 34, left the scene in a pickup truck and led police on a 3-mile chase along Route 32. Police had said that after the chase Prior shot himself in the head as he sat inside the truck.

In a news release Tuesday afternoon, the Maine Department of Public Safety revealed new information about the incident and reported that the state medical examiner’s office has confirmed that Prior’s death was a suicide.

State police say Prior was hiding on the property in Jefferson as he talked on the phone to his former girlfriend, Michelle Creamer, who was sitting in her car in the driveway, the release said.

Prior then grabbed Creamer and forced her down the driveway where he fired at least one shot, wounding her in the arm.

The release said the couple’s two children, ages 6 and 10, were outside when the shots were fired but did not witness the shooting.

Creamer and Prior, who had been a couple since 2000, split up within the past month. Creamer had been living at the Jefferson home with a friend.

Creamer was taken to Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta for treatment. Her condition is not known at this time.

Following the shooting, trooper Jason Madore was placed on administrative leave with pay, standard procedure following police-involved shootings in Maine.