Dexter police shoot 34-year-old after alleged officer assault

By Leela Stockley, Bangor Daily News Staff

DEXTER — A 34-year-old man was hospitalized after an early-morning shooting in Dexter on Thursday. 

The Dexter Police Department responded to a report of a man acting strangely at around 2:04 a.m., and encountered Christopher Hongo at the scene, according to a release signed by Chief Kevin Wintle.

Responding officers Wintle and Sgt. Gary Morin noticed that Hongo was acting aggressively and yelling at them, and fought against the officers while they attempted to take him into custody. According to reports, Hongo pushed Morin over a rock wall and attacked him. 

Morin then shot at Hongo, according to Moss. Hongo was transported to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Details on the severity of his injuries were not immediately available. 

Morin and Wintle were both injured in the encounter, and were treated for injuries at the Sebasticook Valley Hospital before being released. It was not immediately clear how Wintle was injured in the encounter. 

Both Morin and Wintle have been placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure when an officer is involved in a shooting. Wintle appeared to still be on staff with the Dexter Police Department as of around 11:45 a.m. Thursday. 

The Maine attorney general’s office has opened an investigation into the circumstances of the shooting. 

Further details were not available on Thursday morning.