LEWISTON – Vince A. Berube, the 40-year-old Norway man shot by police on Wednesday, remained under 24-hour guard Friday at Central Maine Medical Center.

Berube was recovering after surgery to repair damage to at least a half dozen gunshot wounds as well as knife injuries believed to be self-inflicted.

Lewiston police were keeping an officer posted outside Berube’s hospital room around the clock. A day after he was shot after allegedly attacking an officer with a hammer, Berube was charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon as well as criminal mischief.

The three officers who fired at Berube in the police compound Wednesday remained on restrictive duty. The officers were being offered counseling to help them deal with the psychological trauma from the shooting.

“This kind of incident can be life changing for a police officer,” said Deputy Police Chief Michael Bussiere. “They were the ones who were threatened. They were the ones who had to make split-second decisions and they are the ones who have to live with the consequences.”

Police said Officer Carly Conley fired her gun when Berube came at her with a hammer in the police yard. Two officers who ran from the station seconds later also fired at Berube until he crumbled to the ground.

Berube was struck by several bullets in the upper thighs and midsection. Police said the officers used the force necessary to eliminate the threat after Berube moved to attack Conley with the hammer.

“It’s an unfortunate part of police work but it’s sometimes a necessary one,” Bussiere said.

Investigators said the incident began when Berube drove his truck into the police compound and began pounding on cruisers with a hammer. When confronted by Conley, who was alone with him at the time, Berube attacked, police said.

While state officials investigate the shooting, Lewiston police were going on with their duties around the rest of the city.

“This is a 24-hour-a-day operation. We have to carry on after these kinds of incidents,” Bussiere said. “A situation like this effects everybody but we’ll get through it.”

Part of the investigation into the shooting is focusing on reports that Berube may have been intentionally trying to draw gunfire when he went to the police station. It is known as “suicide by cop” or “police assisted suicide” and it is a worldwide phenomenon.

According to a recent study conducted at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, one out of every 10 police shootings is provoked by someone who wishes to die.

The same study also found that 98 percent of people shot in cases deemed “suicide by cop” are men. And roughly 40 percent of them have histories of domestic violence.

According to law enforcement records, Berube has prior arrests for domestic assault and a conviction for criminal threatening of his wife with a gun.

Police said Berube had stabbed and gashed himself nearly two dozen times Wednesday night before he drove to the station compound about 9:30 p.m. Blood and knives were found in the back of his truck, investigators said.

Bussiere said the three officers Wednesday night reacted as they are trained to when deadly force has been determined necessary to eliminate a threat of imminent danger. The deputy chief said he heard from some people in the community who said they would have chosen to run if confronted by a man with a hammer.

“Unfortunately, police officers don’t have that option,” Bussiere said. “We have to run toward situations like that, not away from them.”

Berube’s family requested that CMMC officials not release information about his condition. He was listed as critical shortly after undergoing surgery Wednesday morning, but his condition was upgraded to serious later in the day.

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