The Maine attorney general’s office has determined that police officers were justified in June when they fatally shot an armed Blue Hill man who was having a mental health crisis.
Maine State Police Detective Scott Duff and Cpl. Caleb McCary and Hancock County Sheriff’s Deputy Dylan Hall fatally shot Peter Pfister, 27, after the officers responded to a report that he was holding his mother against her will at an East Blue Hill home around 2:30 a.m. on June 21, according to the report posted on the attorney general’s website.
Pfister’s father, who lives in Bangor, called 911 to report that his son was threatening to kill his mother because he believed she was a demon. The man said that he had seen in a video call with Pfister that she had blood on her face from injuries inflicted by her son. The caller also said that his son had guns at the house.
Shortly before 5 a.m., Pfister came out of the house, according to the report. He was armed with a pistol and two knives and refused to drop them and surrender, the report said.
Pfister pointed the pistol at McGary, and the officers fired, the report said. The autopsy showed that Pfister died of multiple gunshot wounds. His blood alcohol level was .125 percent, higher than the .08 percent to legally drive. He also had marinjuana and barbiturates in his system.
The attorney general’s office is charged with investigating the use of deadly force by police officers in Maine. The office has never determined that a shooting was not justified.