Waterville Police Officer Shot and Wounded During Traffic Stop

A Waterville police officer was shot in both arms by a man he'd stopped in connection to an alleged shoplifting incident at Walmart.

Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland says Officer Timothy Hinton was treated and released from the Thayer Unit of MaineGeneral Hospital in Waterville after the incident that resulted in 29-year-old Richard Murray-Burns of Harmony being shot and wounded by police. Officer Hinton had stopped the car along Route 201 in Waterville on Saturday after a shoplifting complaint from the local Walmart store. Murray-Burns allegedly fired at the cruiser as he sped away from the scene. Officer Hinton was wounded in both arms, but began the pursuit until other officers could pick up the chase.

The pursuit ended when Murray-Burns was shot and wounded near the Circle K on Main Street in Canaan. Police say the suspect was armed with an assault style weapon. Several police cruisers in the chase were struck by gunfire during the pursuit, including a couple that were disabled.

As is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings, the Maine Attorney General's Office will investigate the incident. Eight police officers shot at the suspect and they have each been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of that inquiry. The officers involved in the incident were State Troopers Eric Sucy, Rick Moody, Daniel Murray, and Garret Booth, Fire Marshal Investigator Ken MacMaster, Somerset Deputy Sheriff Stephen Arminger, and Winslow Police Officer Cameron Huggins.