Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has ruled a South Portland police officer was justified in shooting and killing a man during an armed confrontation at a South Portland apartment complex.
Police say officers responded to the Summit Terrace apartment complex off Broadway around 4 a.m. on Aug. 25, 2023, for a domestic violence call with reports of shots fired.
When officers arrived, the victim reportedly told police the suspect, identified as 47-year-old Christafer Dodge, had fled the apartment in his pickup truck.
According to police, Dodge returned to the scene and pointed an AR-style rifle in the direction of officers while still seated in his pickup truck.
Officer Anthony Verville then shot Dodge, who was hit multiple times and died at the scene. An AR-style rifle was found next to him in the truck.
Frey said Verville believed Dodge posed an imminent threat to officers and the other residents of the apartment complex.
According to Frey, the use of deadly force was justified because Verville was acting in self-defense.
CBS 13 requested the body and dash camera video of the shooting, but it was denied.
The attorney general’s office claimed “That public disclosure of the responsive video would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under 16 M.R.S. 804(3) and, further, that the breach of privacy would be sufficiently grave to outweigh any public interest in disclosure.”
