Independent commission takes a closer look at police response to mass shooting in Maine

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Problems with police communication and coordination in the tense hours after the deadliest mass shooting will be investigated on Friday by an independent commission that plans to hear further testimony from law enforcement officials.

Well-meaning officers caused chaos by showing up uninvited, and officers arrived in a tactical vehicle, presumably drunk, were just some of the “disturbing allegations” brought to the commission, Chairman Daniel Wathen said last week.

The details were set out in an operational report by police in Portland, Maine, about 45 minutes south of the Lewiston location of the shooting.

It is unclear, however, what exactly will be on the table at Friday's meeting. Wathen said some of the issues contained in the report are outside the commission's scope and are best addressed by the police oversight board.

18 people were killed and 13 injured by an army reservist at A bowling alley and a bar and grill in Lewiston. The shooter fled the scene in a vehicle that was abandoned in a nearby town.

The commission had previously heard testimony from law enforcement officials about the evening of Oct. 25, when law enforcement was mobilized for a search as additional police officers flooded into the area. State police took over the coordination of the search for the shooter, whose body was found dead two days later. He had committed suicide.

The tense moments came when police found the shooter's vehicle several hours after the shooting.

The state police proceeded cautiously, angering some officers who immediately wanted to search the surrounding woods. Well-meaning police officers, who had no official assignment, showed up, and fears grew that police officers might shoot each other in the dark. The arrival of so many police officers also contaminated the crime scene, making it virtually impossible to track down the shooter with dogs.

At one point, a Cumberland County Sheriff's Office vehicle nearly collided with another Portland Police Department vehicle near the scene. A Portland Police Department incident report indicated that the occupants of the Cumberland County vehicle had been drinking, but the sheriff denied that his officers were drunk.

Representatives from the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office and Portland Police said they would not send officers to testify on Friday.

The commission was appointed by the governor and consists of seven members, including psychologists and former prosecutors and judges. Wathen is a former chief justice of the state of Maine.