Teen playing ding-dong-ditch with friends is shot while running away, Maine cops say

A man shot at teenagers playing ding-dong-ditch after they knocked on his door and ran off, hitting one of the teens in the leg, according to authorities in Maine.

Witnesses heard screams and gunshots in Harrison, Maine, leading to Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies and police officers responding to a road in the town around 1 a.m. on July 20, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

When authorities arrived, blood was in the street, according to the sheriff’s office. Then, a call came in from a nearby hospital about a “walk-in gunshot victim,” the sheriff’s office said.

Vincent Martin, 30, of Harrison, was arrested at his home in connection with shooting at the teenagers as they ran away from his residence, according to the sheriff’s office.

Information regarding his legal representation wasn’t immediately available.

One of the several shots Martin fired at the group struck the teen’s right calf, resulting in “serious, but non-life-threatening injuries” that are being treated at a hospital, the sheriff’s office said.

Martin is charged with aggravated assault, aggravated reckless conduct, discharging a firearm near a dwelling and discharging a firearm over a way, according to authorities.

He’s detained in the Cumberland County Jail on a $10,000 bail, the sheriff’s office said.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the shooting.

Harrison is about a 40-mile drive northwest from Portland.

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.