BUXTON (AP) – Three teenagers have been arrested on robbery charges in connection with the shooting of a young man at a Buxton farmhouse in what authorities characterized Sunday as “a drug rip-off.”

The three suspects, ages 16, 17, and 18, were all from the Greater Portland area, according to Stephen McCausland of the state Public Safety Department.

The oldest, identified as Joshua Seavey of Portland, was being held at the Cumberland County Jail; the two juveniles were confined to Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland.

The victim of the shooting, Christopher Hutchins, 21, of Buxton, remained at Maine Medical Center, where he was being treated for a gunshot wound to the thigh.

Hutchins’ dog, a bull mastiff mix, was shot in the chest and was taken to a veterinary hospital in Portland. Hutchins and his dog were expected to recover.

“This is a drug rip-off and it’s very troubling, because of the violence and the ages of those involved,” McCausland said. “The intruders came in guns ablazing to steal drugs from the occupants of the farmhouse.”

On Saturday, the day after the shooting, agents from the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency entered the house with a search warrant and recovered several pounds of marijuana and some psychedelic mushrooms, McCausland said.

He said Hutchins had been living in the rented farmhouse on Webster Road with two other young men.

Buxton police received a call late Friday afternoon reporting a forced entry and shooting at the home. Two other residents were home at the time but no one else was injured.

The arrests were made Saturday in the Portland area by various law enforcement agencies.

Seavey will make his initial District Court appearance Monday, most likely in Biddeford.

AP-ES-05-08-05 1357EDT

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