A Lewiston 18-year-old allegedly shot two people in the face late Wednesday night before he was eventually arrested while evading police.
The alleged shootings took place just hours after city officials failed to take any action or present any plan to address youth gun violence at a special Lewiston City Council meeting to address the growing issue.
At approximately 11:04 p.m., the Lewiston Police Department responded to a report of a man having been shot in the face in the area of Oak and Holland Streets.
Police arrived to discover a 60-year-old man suffering from a facial injury.
The victim told police that he had been out walking when a black or dark blue SUV pulled up next to him, and several occupants began shouting at him.
He said that he then turned toward the car, saw someone point what appeared to be a firearm at him, heard a pop, felt immediate pain, and found that he was bleeding from his face.
The vehicle allegedly fled immediately after the shooting.
Approximately ten minutes after police responded to the first alleged shooting, at 11:14 p.m., as officers were providing aid to the first victim, police received reports that a 34-year-old woman had been shot in the face in the area of Bartlett and Walnut Streets.
Officers arrived at the scene to discover the woman suffering from a similar facial injury.
Both victims were transported to Central Maine Medical Center for treatment, but, due to the severity of their injuries, they were transferred to Maine Medical Center.
As of Thursday morning, the male victim was in stable, non-life-threatening condition, while the female victim remained in serious condition.
They are both set to undergo surgery to remove the projectiles from their faces and necks.
Using Lewiston’s Flock cameras, police identified the suspect vehicle and identified Ahmed Yussuf, 18, of Lewiston, as the alleged shooter.
Police located and arrested Yussuf. He currently faces two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of reckless conduct. He was transported to the Androscoggin County Jail, where he is being held on $100,000 bail.
A preliminary examination of the victims led police to believe that they were shot with a high-powered pellet gun, but the nature of the projectiles will not be known until they can be removed from the victims and examined.
The investigation remains ongoing, and people with information on the shootings are urged to reach out to police.
Police provided no information about the other people in the vehicle with Yussuf at the time of the first shooting.
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