LEWISTON — A woman was shot in the neck by police Tuesday after a chase through the city that ended in a crash on Central Avenue behind Raymond A. Geiger Elementary School.
Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
Lewiston police officers tend to an unidentified woman after she was shot following a chase through Lewiston that ended near the rear entrance to Geiger Elementary School on Central Avenue in Lewiston late Tuesday afternoon.
Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
Tenants and neighbors gather on the steps of an apartment building on Central Avenue in Lewiston on Tuesday night as police investigate a nearby shooting. A woman driving a pickup led police on a chase through Lewiston before losing control and smashing into the cars at right. The driver backed up and slammed into trees just to the left of the photo. It is unclear what happened next, but witnesses say they heard three to five shots. The driver lay motionless on the ground until being taken away by ambulance.
Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
An ambulance heads to the scene where a woman lies behind the truck, background, that she crashed on Central Avenue in Lewiston Tuesday evening after leading police on a high speed chase throughout the city.
Kristy Cookson
Police say officers fired after Kristy Cookson, 28, of Manchester tried to run over at least one officer. Her gunshot wound was not life-threatening, police said.
Police Chief Michael Bussiere said no one other than Cookson was injured.
He said the chase began around Walnut and Howard streets when officers attempted to pull over a dark green 2005 Chevrolet pickup that was being driven erratically. Cookson allegedly refused to pull over and ended up speeding down Central Avenue, Bussiere said.
She lost control of the vehicle on a curve and crashed into a parked vehicle at 384 Central Ave. at about 5:40 p.m. The driver's side of the car was smashed and the back window was shattered. The crash pushed the car into two others parked next to it, but the damage to those cars appeared to be minimal.
"That's when the officers attempted to stop the woman, and somewhere in that incident it looks like she attempted to run at least one of the officers over, or was driving back and forth trying to get out," Bussiere said. "Both officers engaged her and fired shots at the vehicle and at the suspect. One of the shots did strike the suspect."
The officers involved in the shooting were Raymond Vega and Keith Caouette, Bussiere said. The Attorney General's Office is investigating the use of deadly force, he said.
Cookson eventually backed into a tree and police were able to get her out of the truck, Bussiere said. He said he believed the officers used a Taser because she was still uncooperative.
Bussiere said officers got out of their car and asked Cookson to get out of her vehicle, but she continued to try to drive away.
Cookson suffered a gunshot wound to the neck and was treated before being taken by ambulance to Central Maine Medical Center for nonlife-threatening injuries, Bussiere said.
"I heard the sirens; I heard the crash and I heard the (truck) in reverse," said Judy Cousins, who lives in a second-floor apartment at 384 Central Ave., where the incident took place.
"Police were flying everywhere," she said.
Cousins and other residents of the apartment building said between three and five shots were fired.
"From what I've been told by the officers investigating the driving and
what led up to it, it's a minor miracle that nobody else is at the
hospital tonight other than her," Bussiere said.
Bussiere said Cookson has a lengthy criminal history that includes several OUI convictions.
In 2005, Cookson was charged with being a fugitive from justice stemming from charges on six warrants from Florida, according to Sun Journal archives. The charges were dismissed. Cookson also was charged with at least two OUIs in Lewiston, one in 2007 and another in 2008.
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The chick looks like a crack
The chick looks like a crack head. The cops fired several "warning" shots before striking her in the neck, too bad they missed the bulls eye. They did a good deed in removing yet another scum bag from the streets. I doubt she has a drivers license, yet she gets behind a wheel of a car driving like a dumb ass, endangring the lives of others. I say give her a gun and ship her ass off to war. Better yet, line all the scum bags up and use em as target practice in the police academy. I'm tired of busting my ass to make a living and just to see my tax dollars spent on these welfare recipients popping out more kids, and housing the criminals. Sheeesh only in America!
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The military doesn't want people like her. She's un-trainable and she wouldn't be loyal. She'd just put the rest of the troops in danger.
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tron....did your folks have any children that lived? I hate to bust your fantasy bubble but cops don't make $50,000 a year. And did you read the entire article and this womans record? I have no doubt she pushed the cops to the point of them having to shoot her! You never ever have anything positive to say.
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Florida is famous for filing frivolous and false and malicious charges. The state hopes the accused will make a cash offer to settle the case. When they do not like with this woman, they drop everything because they do not have a case. You can not consider any dismissed charges as legit which leaves an undisclosed number of OUIs. Now I am the first one who will say we are way too lenient all accross the country on OUI, it is not cause to shoot someone.
A lot of people are terrified of police and that terror is based on experience and for good reason. The good ones are not wearing white hats and the bad ones black.
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Well blue, you are wrong. If you go to the city's website you'll learn that most cops, not all but most, earn $20 and hour. That was in 2004, the website is a little behind the time. Now figure it out, and add the thousands of dollars of training, the thousands of dollars in overtime, the money they get paid for "clothing" medical and retirement benefits and the cops earn well OVER 50k. Go ahead, go to the the city's website. Then write your apology.
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All of you dudes that are experts about cops. They are taught in rent-a-cop academy to shoot to kill if they decided to pull their weapon. In So. Portland, two cops shot 8 times each before they finally killed that guy that had a knife on his porch. Some marksmanship, HUH! This broad was destined to be put down.
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Hey Whatajoke--You say you've lived all over and these guys need to go learn from the city cops--I guess you havnt lived in Atlanta--where they knock down the door to an innocent elderly woman, and shoot and kill her--All because they got the address wrong.
Why should the LPD risk their lives to try all the "nice" options for subduing this crazy lady? A vehicle is a dangerous weapon, as is a gun. If a perp does not put the gun down, and aims it at the cop, they will get shot. If the perp does not stop the vehicle, then they will get shot.
You think they should wait until the trigger is pulled, or the gas pedal pushed before the officer takes action? If your child was standing behind the vehicle, when exactly would you want them to react??
Oh-mrcsgrl01-They said she attempted to run over an officer. So, do we let the "attempted murderers" go free, too, smarty?
To the one that thinks their 50K is a lot of money--I wouldnt do it for 50K.
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You guys who bash the police are all a bunch of idiots! Flapping your gums until something happens to you and then you are all up in arms when society doesn't bow down to your stupidity! The only reason you retards can make these comments about what the police should have done to make the situation better is because you are all sitting at home on the tree street where you live, sipping your Allen's coffee brandy wishing you had a purpose in life other than bash the police. Serriously, the officers who shot this scum bag were doing their job and at the end of the week they will collect their paychecks (which I'm sure isn't much) and look at how much all of you Maine Care, Free care takers are taking away from their families. Hope that you sleep well at night knowing these men and women are out there protecting your sorry as*%'s for a living and not sitting at home pointing fingers at you.
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Is there anything that LPD can do that you people do not jump down their throats for? you dont know what really happened you are just reading what the SJ puts down and we all know how accurate they are.... guess they should have let her go so she could have killed our children.. go back to school and learn something because i dont think that you idiots have any brains and if you did you would probably take it out and play with it.
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I AM PROUD OF LEWISTON POLICE GREAT JOB ONCE AGAIN LETS KEEP MAINE SAFE FOR ALL DRIVERS AND WALKERS
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First off, great job by the LPD!!!!
Secondly, any liberal on here condemning the LPD's actions have no common sense whatsoever. Just shooting out the tires of an automobile will not stop an automobile from moving. You can still drive with busted tires. Tazing the woman while she is still behind the wheel, just plain dumb; her muscles will contract and she could easily stomp on the gas. And don't give me the line that the woman had rights that were violated. She was driving erratically, cops tried to pull her over she did not, then tries to run over a cop. RIGHTS WAIVED at this point!!! She deserved what she got................
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she got what she deserved, I'm glad the lewiston pd shot her I believe they had every right to, she was a danger to them and the public, its just too bad she survived it to yet continue to be a burden on our society. Maybe the rest of the scumbags will take a lesson from this cuz it could be them next time. sorry but I have no sympathy for people like her and the more the police can eliminate the better.
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I agree 100%. Time to clean up the Dirty Lew! Shoot em up LPD, clean up the streets and rid civilized human beings from the scum bags.
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People always complain that the police used poor judgement. What about the perp? She could always have stopped when the police said to. People always complain that the police chased someone and someone could have gotten hurt which is true. Yet they never say a word about the perp that ran and the damage they cause. In a perfect world, perps wouldn't run and cops wouldn't have to chase them. I hope they lock her up, make her do rehab, repay the damages she caused. But she won't, she has too many problems and just can't be expected to take responsablility of herself.
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Loooooooooooseeeeeeerrrrrrrr
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To those of you who criticize the cops for doing their jobs. You were not there and potentially run over. Plus, I'll bet you'd be the first to jump all over them if they did try to taze her instead of shooting........the reality of hitting somebody with a tazer in that situation is pretty slim....but if they did let her go and she hit and killed somebody else....like a relative of yours. How would you feel then. You would be jumping up and down calling for their heads for not taking action. I get a kick out of reading some of the comments that many of you "perfect world" people write. Get a grip and be happy that there are people who are willing to do the job of a cop. For the most part, it is a thankless job. I think I speak for the majority of people who are proud of the work they do.
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At 50K plus a year, I think they're thanked more than enough.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Hey Tron thought I would let
Hey Tron thought I would let you know that a cops in the state Maine make from $30,000 - $45,000 and that is not enough in my eyes to put up with people like you.
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If they pay that much Tron, why don't you apply and get a real job and you wont have so much time to bash people In the mean time walk a mile in their shoes.
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.
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Hardly tron, they should be paid much more than that. Especially with people like you out there.
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Great job Lewiston Police get these drunks off the road
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The police escalate a situation, use poor judgement, run their testosterone though the roof and acted irrationally, yup , I'm sure the AG's office will find this a good shoot. Keystone Kops are alive and well in Lewiston.
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I do think the AGs will find it to be a good shooting. May their testosterone been through the roof because someone was trying to run them over in a big F@CKING truck. But may be they did act irrationally lets test that theory I will place you in front of my truck and and move it forward. Here is the kicker I am not going to tell you if I am going to run you over or just move my truck.
Tron just think about that for a moment and then decide if you would shoot or not. But after you think for a few minutes think of this the officers didnt have a few minutes or even a few seconds they had a split second to decide.
I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
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if you looked at the article northwood it said that they thought that she was going to not that did did attempt to run an officer over. and if that was the case then shoot the tires out number one and number two it didnt need to take 5 shots i think that that was a bit much. as for shooting the stupid driver in the neck how can they be sure that it wasa non life threatening injury . and why didnt they try to use their tazors before hand after the first parked car that she hit truck windows were open werent they. but i do appreciate the lpd for somewhat doing their job for making sure that noone else got hurt out of this ordeal.
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mrcsgrlo1
"they thought that she was going to" that is the point the officer thought she was going to run him over. It does not matter if she was trying to or not if the officer thought she was trying to kill him then (at least in his mind) she was trying to kill him. What would you like him to do let her run him over then shoot up through the floor of the vehicle. Use your brain for something other than a hat rack
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Maybe the shots were warning shots fool. I wonder why they shot her in the neck though. I spose it's hard to hit a moving target.
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Officers are not allowed to fire "warning shots"....the bullet would be considered a "stray" bullet. I was wondering if they needed some target practice?
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i hope the AGO does their job. I bet those two officers were not justified to open fire. That seems to be the story with Lewiston PD. Just SHOOT and we will make up an excuse later. Maybe they thought she was a diseased moose? Lewiston PD is filled with alot of young,arrogant and inexperienced cops, that have absolutely no reason to be. This is Maine. There is virtually no crime, compared to other cities this size. I think they should spend some time in a real city, learning from real police what its actually like to fight real crime. I have lived all over the U.S and seen first hand the violence that happens. Maine is a cakewalk. I think Lewiston PD should be thankful that there hasnt been a Maurice Clemmons incident up here yet. Half of the PD is just asking for it with the way the act.
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If someone was in front of my building in a truck, driving it backwards and forwards and hitting cars with it, I would want her STOPPED before people get hurt. Good job LPD
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You’re the joke have you sent any time reading the news or are you just up here to start your own meth lab? Maine is a great place to live but to say there is no crime is to say there is no bad weather. I love this state but it has its issues just like every other state. You sound like the guy who gets mad because a cop pulled them over for speeding and it’s the cops fault or the towns fault because the speed limit is too low. It doesn’t help that Maine has some of the most relaxed drug laws in the U.S. so that more arrest that should be made as well as D.A.’s being too soft and letting anyone go. I guess I don’t see where you can draw the correlation of Maurice Clemmons.
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Did the new law pass yet 5 years in jail automatic with and O U I charge?
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She looks like a classy woman.
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Another idiot that when taken to court will get light jail time throw the book at her !Let her reflect on her bad behavior !!! GOOD JOB LPD !!!!
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Good job guys!
I am sure we all wait for trons objective opinion.
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She should have stopped when the police told her to. Bad decision on her part. Good job by the Lewiston PD.
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Great job LPD Getting this off the road befor she run over someone sounds like oui and alot of other crimes GREAT JOB LEWISTON PD
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Great job LPD Getting this off the road befor she run over someone sounds like oui and alot of other crimes GREAT JOB LEWISTON PD
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Thats what you get if you try to kill a cop
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And she tried to kill a cop how?
"somewhere in that incident it looks like she attempted to run at least one of the officers over, or was driving back and forth trying to get out," Bussiere said.
Looks like??
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When I was a young Sailor - I drank like a Sailor, fought like a Sailor, and screwed like a Sailor. Now that I am old and wise - I have a few scars, but many fond memories.
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If a truck is coming at you don't you think the person is trying to kill you. Last time I checked a vehicle running someone over is deadly.
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