LEWISTON – As is typical following police shootings, many in the community were asking why officers did not use non-lethal force to subdue the suspect.

Vince A. Berube, a 40-year-old from Norway, was shot several times by three officers late Wednesday in the police compound.

After reviewing investigative findings Thursday, Police Chief William Welch said alternative means of subduing the suspect – such as chemical spray or batons – were not practical options. The attack happened too fast and in quarters too tight.

“They had no opportunity to use anything but deadly force,” Welch said. “It was either use deadly force or be injured or killed themselves.”

Police said Berube was attacking one of the officers with a hammer when he was shot. The chief said he had heard questions raised about why the officers didn’t try to shoot Berube in a manner that would injure but not kill him.

According to Welch and other police officials, such limited action is simply not taken in situations involving deadly force.

“This is not the wild, wild West,” Welch said. “We do not try to shoot weapons out of people’s hands.”

In situations involving deadly force, police officers are trained to shoot toward a suspect’s “center of mass,” the widest section of the torso. The idea is to increase the odds of hitting and disabling the target while minimizing the risk of stray bullets injuring others, police said.

Police did not say how far the three officers were from Berube when they fired.

Berube fell to the ground approximately 20 feet from the back door of the police station and just a few feet from his truck.

By law enforcement guidelines, an officer is justified in using deadly force when the officer feels that he or someone else is faced with a threat of imminent and deadly danger.

“The basic thrust of this provision is that an officer may meet unlawful deadly force with deadly force,” according to the Maine Law Enforcement Officer’s Manual.

Police officers in Lewiston train twice a year in simulated scenarios that familiarize them with situations that may call for them to draw their guns.

“All of the officers are very professional. They have to make split-second decisions all the time,” Welch said.

mlaflamme@sunjournal.com

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