A disturbance call at a Portland apartment Monday night ended with a 69-year-old man dead and a 41-year-old man wounded by police gunfire.
The victim was identified as Mark Tschamler. Police said Tschamler was being assaulted inside an apartment on Colonial Road when two officers entered the residence and confronted Brian Oliver, 41, of Portland.
Officers were called to the apartment at about 8:16 p.m. after a disturbance was reported. A tenant met the officers when they arrived and went inside the residence ahead of them.
The situation quickly turned chaotic. Police said the tenant suddenly ran back toward the officers screaming. Officers then moved into the apartment and encountered what authorities described as an active incident.
Inside, police said they found Oliver assaulting Tschamler. The two responding officers confronted Oliver and ordered him to drop a weapon. According to police, he refused to follow their commands.
The officers then fired at Oliver, striking and injuring him. He was taken to Maine Medical Center, where he remained in police custody while being treated. Police have not identified the weapon they say Oliver had.
Tschamler did not survive the assault. Police said he died at the scene from injuries sustained during the attack.
Oliver is expected to be charged with murder in connection with Tschamler’s death. The case has not been decided in court, and authorities have not yet released all of the evidence or circumstances that will form the basis of the charge.
The two officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave as the use-of-force investigation moves forward. That review is separate from the criminal investigation into Tschamler’s death.
Several key details remain unclear. Police have not said what sparked the disturbance, whether Oliver and Tschamler knew each other, what kind of weapon was involved or whether anyone else was injured.
The investigation will focus on what happened inside the apartment before police arrived, the assault reported by officers and the moments leading up to the shooting. Authorities are expected to release more information as the case develops.
Leave a Reply