A 34-year-old man with a violent criminal history dating back a decade was charged with murder in the deaths of four people discovered at a Bowdoin residence on Tuesday morning.
Joseph M. Eaton of Bowdoin was apprehended after shooting three other people off Interstate 295 in Yarmouth and is being held at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset, Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said.
Four people were found dead at a residence on Augusta Road in Bowdoin at around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Police have said the deaths are related to the Yarmouth shooting that left three people injured and one person in critical condition.
Police had not released the names of any of the victims on Tuesday evening with those in Bowdoin awaiting autopsy results. Eaton is being held without bail and will make a court appearance later this week, Moss said.
Eaton’s criminal record dates back to 2013. He has been charged with 15 different crimes before Tuesday’s shootings, according to a state police background check document. Those crimes include felonies that bar people from possessing guns under state and federal law.
He was just coming off an eight-month sentence in March 2022 after a felony assault conviction in Knox County. He has also been convicted of aggravated assault, simple assault and several probation violations.
Thank you. Sad story.